The Road Trip
by BanditPonyta
Summary: Matt, Tai, Izzy and TK finally take the road the trip they've been planning... But things get off to a rough start. A continuation of the 'Stop Light' series, but it could almost stand on its own.
1. Moving Right Along

A/N: I've kept everyone waiting… I'm sorry. I said this story would be up in the beginning of summer. I'm such a liar. The reason why this took so long was because it required me to do actual research… I mean… I needed to look at maps of Japan and everything. I also had to figure out whether or not I wanted to use Yen or just stick to what I know and use dollars. I finally decided to use dollars…. I mean, I've already Americanized the heck out of the boys, might as well go the whole way, right? But if it seriously bothers people, like you don't think you will be able to enjoy the story because I say something costs 5 instead of…. Like 500 Yen. I'll change it. If you don't like the dollars I'll change it to Yen in the following chapters… however, know that it'll take me longer to write because I actually have to convert currency.

Anyway, this really is a continuation of the Stop Light series….. but I'm going to try and make it so people can still enjoy this without having to read Stop Light and Crosswalk. But be warned, I do randomly refer back to Crosswalk and Stop Light.

Read, Enjoy and leave a Review!

**The Road Trip**

**Moving Right Along**

_The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. –_ Lao Tzu

The boys had been officially on summer vacation for about two days, fourteen hours, twenty-five minutes and 45 seconds (approximately) and definite plans had still not been made about the road trip they had all promised they were going to take. The original plan was to leave the first day of summer, but their plans kept being postponed by the small fact that they still didn't know where they were going. The only thing they knew for certain was who would be going. It wasn't too difficult, since Tai's father's car could only seat five and with luggage, they would really only be able to fit four into the car. So, even though the plan had been to include many people, in the end it was only Tai, Matt, Izzy and TK. Matt thought it was for the best since he could barely spend an afternoon in the presence of Davis, much less hours locked in a car with him.

After much postponing and schedule rearranging, the boys had finally been able to meet at Tai's home to make some absolute, definite, concrete, we're-finally-going-to-do this plans about their road trip.

"Why are you so obsessed about going to the beach?! We live near a beach! We can go anytime!"

"I want to go to a different beach! One that's like exotic and full of-"

"Don't say girls. We're not going on this thing to pick up girls, Tai."

"Well, of course you aren't! You _have_ a girlfriend! What about the rest of us? Think of the rest of us."

"Izzy, are you at any point planning on picking up girls on our road trip?" Matt said, rolling his eyes. Izzy didn't even bother looking up from his laptop, he just continued typing as if nothing had been asked of him. Which was just as well since nobody was actually waiting for his response.

"We're not going to _pick up_ any girls, just maybe…. Look at them for a while, right TK?" Tai said nudging the younger boy who was seated on the floor beside him. TK, however, was engrossed in a travel book and he completely ignored Tai's attempts to include him in the argument.

"We should go to a festival somewhere, that could be fun," TK said absently as he marked something in the book with a highlighter. Matt smiled at his younger brother's lack of attention. Tai made a face and fell back onto his floor looking defeated. The boys had been looking things over for awhile and they had several maps and travel books scattered about on the floor. Izzy was sitting in Tai's desk chair and researching on his laptop. Matt was sitting on Tai's bed, not actively doing any research, but doing his duty by arguing with Tai over road trip ideas. Despite hours of talking, fighting, snack breaks, looking at maps and more arguing the only thing the boys had succeeded in was creating a mess.

Suddenly there was knocking on Tai's bedroom door. Tai sighed and threw an arm over his face.

"Go away," he called from his position on the floor. "We're busy."

"Tai," Kari's voice called through the locked door. "Can I come in?"

TK was now looking up from his travel book and at the door. He glanced to Tai quickly and then back to the door.

"No, Kari. The road trip is for men only. You can't come," Tai said, sounding overly annoyed.

"Can't I at least come in? I'm bored."

"No."

There was a brief pause. "TK, can you let me in?" Kari asked, her voice becoming overly sweet.

"Don't do it, TK." Tai said sitting up and giving the boy a warning glare.

"Please, TK?" Kari pleaded through the door.

"What's the big deal? Why can't she come in?" TK asked quietly, trying to find common ground in the situation.

"Because she can't come and I don't want to hear her whine about it."

"I'm not whining!" Kari shouted through the door. Tai abruptly stood up; jumped over a particularly large map they had spread out on the carpet and ran into the wooden frame with a loud bang. Kari made a short yelp on the other side. Tai grinned broadly, unlocked the door and opened it a crack.

"What are you yelling about out here?" Tai asked trying to sound annoyed.

"You startled me!" Kari accused. Tai rolled his eyes in response.

"Girls!" he exclaimed with another eye roll, "they'll jump at anything. Now go away or I'll let TK read your diary." Tai quickly shut the door in Kari's face.

"You don't have my diary!" Kari shouted as the piece of wood nearly closed on her nose. Tai went back to sit on the floor by TK.

"Tell yourself whatever you want," he called tauntingly.

"It's in my room!"

"Are you sure? You'd better go check." Tai said as he began flipping through a travel guide. There was a moment of silence and Tai grinned to himself. Kari's footsteps were then heard walking quickly away, the words 'stupid jerk' could just barely be heard. For the first time Izzy looked up from his laptop.

"Tai, is there a reason why you are acting particularly malevolent towards your sister today?" He asked flatly. Tai raised an eyebrow and looked confused. Matt snorted trying to suppress a laugh.

"It means _mean_, Tai," Matt said, rolling his eyes.

"It means mean? Means mean, means mean…" Tai trailed off, apparently finding the phrase amusing.

"Stop that," Matt ordered, "Answer Izzy's question."

"What was the question again?" Tai asked, looking over his shoulder at Izzy. Matt broke in before Izzy could say anything.

"Why are you acting so _mean_ to Kari today, idiot?"

"Because she's going to miss me… and I'm not an idiot."

"That doesn't even make sense!" Matt said as he chucked a travel pamphlet at Tai's head. Tai ducked easily.

"It doesn't need to make sense to you!" Tai near shouted. He grabbed the book that TK was holding and threw it at Matt's face. Matt ducked, but it skimmed across his shoulder and then hit the wall behind him with a loud thud.

"What are you doing?!" Matt demanded angrily, "That thing is heavy!"

"You threw something at me first!"

"It was only three pages thick! You practically threw an encyclopedia at my face!"

"Stop fighting!" TK suddenly blurted. Both Matt and Tai looked startled as if they were surprised to find other people in the room with them.

"We weren't _really_ fighting, TK." Tai said reassuringly.

"It wasn't a serious fight." Matt added. TK sighed and shook his head as if to clear it.

"I know. It's just we've been stuck in this room for hours and we haven't even decided _where_ we're going. You guys just keep arguing about it. I've gotta go home soon and we haven't figured anything out," TK crossed his arms and gave them both a stern stare.

"TK's right." Izzy said. "We really need to make a decision about where we are going and when."

Tai threw his arms up in the air and flopped back down on the floor with a sigh.

"Ugh, this is too hard. I say we just leave tomorrow and then drive and we'll end up wherever we end up. Never mind all the stupid planning."

"Tai," Izzy looked flabbergasted, "we can't just leave without a _plan_."

"Why not?" Tai shot back, looking irritated.

"My parents won't let me go if we don't know where we're going," Izzy said quietly, absently brushing something off of his keyboard.

"Mom said the same thing. She wants to know exactly where we're going," TK added somberly.

"Just lie. Tell them we're going to…." Tai paused and, without looking, let his hand drop onto the open map beside him. He then squinted to see where his fingers had landed. "…Toyama? Toyama…. It's not even that far from us…. Yeah, tell them we're going to Toyama." Tai, then moved to get a better look at the map. "At least it's on the coast, which means there will be a beach."

Matt raised an eyebrow, "Tai, there's nothing even in Toyama…. Is there?" Matt directed this question at Izzy, who slowly shook his head.

"They have… rice fields and…. I know they have a well known pharmaceutical industry…. That's about it I think."

"A well known pharmaceutical industry? Well hell, I think we've found a winner," Matt excalimed, clapping his hands in fake enthusiasm.

"Toyama is just a cover for the fact that we don't know where we're going, Matt." Tai grumbled, "We not actually going there."

"They're going to know it's a lie. _Why on earth would we decide to road trip to a bunch of rice fields_?" Matt countered.

"It's by the beach! They'll think we're going to the beach!" Tai sat up looking irritated. "Why are you arguing with me so much today, anyway?" He added, giving Matt a frustrated stare. Matt blinked, looking surprised, but then he quickly gathered himself.

"If you would stop acting like an idiot, I wouldn't argue with you."

"You're the idiot, Matt."

"Guys…" Izzy tried to break in, but he was ignored.

"If you weren't so stupid we would have decided where we're going and I wouldn't have-we wouldn't…. we could have left already!" Matt's faltering words caused Tai to look at him suspiciously. If he knew Yamato Ishida, something else was going on. Something that Matt was avoiding talking about and something that was making him more irritable than usual.

"What…?" Tai trailed off, unsure of what exactly he should be asking his friend. Matt shut his eyes and shook his head.

"Forget it. We can say we're going to Toyama or whatever. Just as long as we actually go somewhere." Matt stood up, "It's getting late, I should go. TK, are you coming?" Matt asked as he moved to the door. TK nodded and moved quickly to follow his brother.

"I should be going to. Mom wanted me home early." Izzy said, packing up his laptop to go. Tai looked upset that their trip planning was being put to an end to so early, but he didn't argue. Perhaps they would be able to come up with a destination tomorrow. Tai got up to walk his friends out. When they got to the door to Tai's apartment, Tai caught Matt by the elbow.

"Call me later," and he gave Matt the most serious look he could. Matt hesitated, but then nodded and shuffled out the door. Tai said a quick goodbye to TK and Izzy and then watched them walk down the hallway; Izzy trailing a few paces behind the two brothers.

* * *

Matt walked TK most of the way home. He rarely walked TK all the way to his door. Matt had never said anything about it, but TK knew it was because of their mother. Lately, it seemed, his older brother's relationship with their mother had dipped to an all time low. TK didn't know why, he wasn't even sure if there was one actual reason. It was as if their relationship was just slowly breaking down more and more over time. Usually Matt just made sure TK made it into the building safely and then he walked home alone. This time Izzy was with him for a while, but he too, soon went his own way home.

When Matt entered his apartment it was almost six o'clock and he was sweating from his long walk outside in the summer heat. A look around revealed that his father was not yet home. Matt knew he should probably start trying to make something for dinner, but he didn't feel like cooking over a hot stove just yet. Instead, he plopped himself down on the couch and shut his eyes, trying to relax after the day of failed planning and bickering with Tai.

_Call me later._

Matt groaned in protest at the sudden memory. Obviously, his friend wanted to have a conversation about why he was being so overly irritated today. Matt didn't feel like talking, but he figured he should probably call….he said he would after all. _Might as well get this over with_, Matt thought as he pulled himself off of the couch. He just needed to reassure Tai he was fine and apologize for his actions earlier. It would be quick and easy. Matt made his way to the portable phone that was resting in its charger. His hand was an inch from it when he noticed the answering machine light blinking. He paused for a moment, messages on the landline were usually for his father and they were usually boring and left by his father's coworkers. If someone wanted to call Matt, they would call his cell phone. But Matt was slightly curious so he went ahead and pushed the play button. A feminine electronic voice sounded.

"You have… one… unheard message."

There was a pause and then with a loud beep the recorded message began to play.

"… Hey Matt and Uncle Hiroaki. This is Takako…. I know it's been a long time. Um, Mom told me I didn't need to call you guys, but I don't know if…. I don't know if TK will call you or what. Anyway, mom's still too upset to call anyone so I got stuck making all the phone calls, which totally sucks, you know? Well, as you know, Grandma was in critical condition this morning…."

Matt suddenly felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. What was she talking about? _As you know?_ He didn't know anything about this. He felt like his head was filled with a sudden buzzing and he struggled to hear what his cousin was saying. But for a moment he couldn't make sense of it.

" …It happened about two hours ago. She's going to be cremated…. I know you two weren't that close, but I wanted to make sure you knew about it…. Ah, I have to go, mom's calling me." The answering machine beeped loudly and Matt stared blankly for a moment. He wanted to replay the message just to make sure he had heard correctly; it had to be some sick joke. Why would his cousin joke like that? And if it wasn't a joke, _how could his cousin just leave him a message like that?_ What kind of sick person leaves that kind of message for someone to find. _Someone who thinks you don't really care_, came the thought. _Of course she thinks I don't care. I've never gone out of my way to call anyone on that side of the family._ _I never had a great relationship with my mother's mom… Do I care?_ Matt then felt like something was crushing his chest, making it difficult to breath. _Do I care?_ Matt asked himself. Alone, in the growing dark of his apartment, Matt found that he didn't know the answer.

* * *

Matt was sitting on the floor of his living room. He didn't know at what point he had sat down or how long he had been sitting there on the floor. He just felt so dully numb. For a while all Matt could here was the strange buzzing noise, filling his head and making it impossible to concentrate on anything for too long. His cell phone ringing slowly roused him from his stupor. He pressed the phone to his ear without even bothering to check to see who was calling.

"Hello?" His voice sounded strangely detached.

"Matt, it's me."

"TK…" Matt stated, hearing the pain in his younger brother's voice.

"Our cousin called here…." TK trailed off and Matt heard him sniff loudly.

"I know, she called here too," Matt was surprised at how formal he sounded.

"Is dad there? Can I talk to him?" TK asked as he sounded like he was beginning to cry.

"Dad's not here," Matt said flatly. "Are you alright?" _Stupid question, stupid question…_

"I'm just…. Mom's not here yet. She's still at work." At this, TK sniffled louder and his breath was hitching. Matt stayed quiet for a moment listening to his young brother trying not to cry loudly on the phone.

"Do you want to come over here?" Matt asked bluntly. There was a pause on the other line. "So you won't be alone." Matt added. TK hesitated.

"Yeah… if that's alright."

"Of course it is. I'll see you in a little bit."

* * *

It was around seven in the evening when Tai was walking briskly to Matt's apartment. Despite the sun setting, it was still uncomfortably warm outside. Tai paused to wipe his brow when he was about a block away from Matt's building. He wanted to pause for a moment longer, but something twisted nervously inside him. He had been feeling uneasy ever since the call he had received from Matt; even though Matt had really only said one thing: "You need to come over _now_." This had, quite frankly, freaked Tai out. Matt never liked admitting it when he needed someone and yet that is what he had done. Tai began walking with more urgency.

When he finally got to Matt's door, he only knocked once and the door was flung open to receive him. Matt was standing there looking, frazzled and, Tai noticed, strangely pale.

"Were you serious about leaving tomorrow?" Matt asked abruptly. Tai blinked for a moment.

"What?"

"The road trip…. Can we leave tomorrow? Maybe we can even leave tonight. We could get to Tokyo before it gets too late. We could just find a hotel and continue driving in the morning." Matt had a hint of desperation in his voice that Tai hadn't heard from him in a long time.

"Why?" Tai asked looking confused. Matt didn't answer Tai and instead turned away from the door and began walking quickly towards his room. Tai figured this meant he should come in. He kicked his shoes off by the door and then followed Matt inside. He paused in Matt's doorway and watched his friend pacing around his room. Every once in a while he would grab something and throw it into an open suitcase on his bed. Tai watched Matt for a moment with wary curiosity. "What's going on Matt?" Tai tried. Matt paused in the middle of shoving a shirt into his suitcase. He looked up at Tai and just stared at him for a moment.

"My band's breaking up," Matt said flatly.

"What? When?" Tai asked looking surprised. Matt turned his attention back to his suitcase.

"It's been a couple of days. We had a fight and we decided the band wasn't what we all wanted anymore. We just decided not to do it anymore."

"I'm… sorry, Matt, what was the fight about?" Tai asked quietly.

"My lack of dedication to the band," Matt said scoffing. "Apparently, injuring yourself repeatedly at a crosswalk, being grounded from even having band practice and then telling them you're blowing them off this summer to go on a road trip, can cause fellow band mates to become really pissed off at you."

"Oh," Tai commented weakly.

"That's why I've been in a bad mood lately, sorry about fighting with you earlier."

"Don't worry about it… So… Is that it? You want to leave because your band's breaking up?"

"No."

"Then why?" Tai asked as he ran a hand through his hair. Matt suddenly became very still. His jaw twitched uncomfortably and he looked Tai directly in the eye.

"I got a call… well, a message from my cousin… she said my grandmother died today. TK's upset; he's coming over right now." Matt then went back to packing his suitcase. Tai stood for a moment, blinking, wondering if he had heard correctly. Matt never spoke about his extended family. In fact, Tai had never really heard Matt talk about his grandmother. Tai didn't like that. Weren't they supposed to be best friends? Tai quickly pushed those thoughts away; it wasn't really the time to be wondering over his friend's lack of communication. Matt keeping things to himself wasn't exactly something new.

"Why do you suddenly need to go right now? Why can't you wait?" Tai asked, noticing Matt's packing was becoming more fervent. He paused and again looked directly into Tai's eyes.

"I didn't cry Tai. I didn't even feel like crying. TK was sobbing on the phone, he could barely even talk…. And I don't even feel sad about it," Matt took a deep breath and was silent. Tai stared at him for a moment. In Matt's eyes Tai could see a deep fear resonating and the desperate need to leave… the need to run. He needed to get away now and he needed help in doing so. Tai swallowed and cleared his throat.

"I'll go pack my stuff."

To be continued….

A/N: Hopefully the next part won't take forever. If you're reading this and you know my writing style, you know I like to have the drama and the humor all mixed together in one nutty little story. This part wasn't too big on the humor, hopefully the next part will be…. Now, be a responsible reader and leave me a review.


	2. Westward

A/N: First off, let me apologize for taking way too long to write this. It was rough time for me. I had problems with my job and home and life all around sucked there for awhile. But I'm back now and I hope to be writing more frequently. I am so sorry for the wait. Thank you to everyone who waited. You are all awesome. Anyway, thanks for all your reviews! I was so happy to see reviews from people who were with me and giving me reviews while I was writing Crosswalk. It's like we're on one big journey together.

Oh, one more thing, the boys' ages: Everyone is respectively 16, except for TK who is 12. I suppose Izzy is supposed to be younger…. And he is, but in my mind he's a young 16 while Tai and Matt would be an older 16.

On with the story.

**Westward**

"5:30 in the morning… That's when you want to leave?"

"We should get an early start."

Matt and Tai had been quietly discussing their departure time and all of their remaining plans. Matt was going to take TK back home in the morning to pack and Tai would have the car ready at 5:30.

"If I'm not there on time, it means I slept through the alarm," Tai said. He was sitting in the Ishida entranceway and slipping on his shoes to leave.

"You'd better not... Hey, what are we going to do about Izzy?"

"Leave that to me. I've got it all figured out."

"Are you sure?" Matt sounded doubtful.

"Don't you trust me?" Tai looked at his friend with a mock hurt expression. Matt rolled his eyes.

"Just tell me you're not planning on kidnapping him." Tai stared blankly up at Matt for a minute.

"Well…" Tai started softly.

"Tai! You were going to _kidnap_ Izzy? That was your _plan_?"

"… Not exactly, but…"

"Please tell me you're joking." Matt put his face in his hand in exasperation.

"What do you want me to do? If I tell him, he'll tell his parents… and you were the one that said the less the parents know the better. You're making it like it's a secret mission or something."

"Think of something else."

"Like what? We don't know where we're going and we're leaving suddenly. Izzy parents aren't going to let him just go with us, they'll be suspicious." Tai stood up resolutely. "Izzy's going to have to come with us without telling his parents before hand. Either that or we're going to have to leave without him and I don't want to do that. We don't have any other options."

Matt's eyes widened and his hand slid to his chin in contemplation. "You're right. We're going to have to kidnap him."

There was a sudden knocking on the door and Matt opened it quickly to reveal TK standing in the hallway. Tai noticed that he looked a bit disheveled and he noticed his eyes were red.

"Hey, TK." Matt said quietly.

"You guys…. I heard something about Izzy?" TK asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Tai chirped happily. "I'll call you later, Matt. Bye TK." Tai gave them both a quick sympathetic look and then left down the hallway. Matt watched his friend leave and then switched his attention to TK. He paused, not looking directly at his brother and clenched his jaw. TK was able to catch his eyes and for a moment they just stared at each other, an instant of understanding passed between them. Matt motioned for him to come inside fully and shut the door behind him.

"What were you guys talking about? I heard Izzy's name through the door." TK shuffled into the living room with Matt close behind him. Matt cleared his throat.

"I need to ask… I need to ask a big favor of you. Maybe too big, but I need you to go with me on this."

Confusion and concern crossed TK's face briefly, but then he nodded with assurance. "Yeah Matt, I'll do whatever you need me to do."

* * *

The night passed quietly without great incident. TK made arrangements to stay with Matt for the night and when their father got home, Mr. Ishida, didn't think much of it. Nobody had informed him about his ex-wife's dead mother. If he didn't already know from their mother, the boys had decided not to speak with him about it. Matt thought it would be easier for his plan to work if their father was left in the dark. What Matt's plan was, exactly, TK didn't know. He only knew his part in it. So at 4:45am, when Matt's alarm went off, the two boys quietly got dressed and snuck out of Matt's apartment. Matt left a note on the table for his father stating what they were doing. Hopefully it would keep Mr. Ishida from grounding Matt forever when they returned from the road trip.

They walked down the street in the early morning hours. It was still dark out, but it would soon be heating up into a blistering summer day. They headed towards TK's apartment, Matt carrying his suitcase and his guitar in its case on his back. TK offered to help, but Matt wouldn't allow it, always determined to carry his own burdens.

Once the boys arrived at TK's apartment they packed TK's suitcase as quickly and quietly as possible. Their mother had not yet woken up for work and it was imperative that she not discover her sons' plans. They left a note similar to the one Matt had left for his father. However, this one expressed more condolences and apologies for leaving without notice and under such unpleasant circumstances.

"Mom's never grounded me before," TK whispered as he finished writing the letter.

"Maybe she won't," Matt whispered back. TK raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sneaking out to go on a road trip the day after her mother passed away…. You don't think she's going to ground me?"

"If you don't want to do it TK…"

"I told you I'd go with you and I meant it, Matt."

The boys left TK's apartment carrying all of the luggage they would need for the trip. They both tiptoed past their mother's room and out the door. TK locked the door as quietly as he could and, after briefly pausing to make sure their movements had not awoken their sleeping mom, the boys went outside to wait for Tai.

* * *

It was 5 o'clock in the morning when Izzy's cell rang and threatened to vibrate off of his bedside table. Caught somewhere between being asleep and awake, Izzy reached out blindly for the buzzing device. After a minute of grasping at air, he was finally able to locate his phone. He fumbled for the answer button, though he couldn't be sure if he was hitting the right key. Izzy put the phone to his ear without looking to see who was calling.

"…Hmmm?" Was all he managed to mutter in his not-yet-awake state.

"Izzy!" Came a way to chipper voice on the other line.

"…Tai?" Izzy asked groggily. "What time… why are you… it's dark outside still?"

"I'll explain in a minute. We have kind of an emergency."

"Is everything alright?" Izzy sat up, trying his best to fight the will to just go back to sleep.

"I need you to open your front door."

"… Why?"

"Just do it. We have to hurry!"

"Alright, alright." Izzy rolled out of his bed and stumbled towards his bedroom door. He shook his head trying to rid his mind of thoughts of sleep. He made his way down the hallway in the dark with one hand out, brushing against the wall, guiding him to his front door. Still not awake, Izzy undid the lock and opened the door to find Tai standing in his hallway with his cell phone in his hand. Before Izzy couldn't even utter a questioning statement, Tai brushed past him and made a beeline to Izzy's room.

"We have to hurry," Tai called back in a hushed whisper. Tai went straight to Izzy's dresser and began pulling clothes from their neatly folded positions in his drawers. Izzy followed in bewilderment, flipping on his light when he entered his room.

"Tai, what are you doing?" Izzy asked rubbing his eyes. Maybe he was still asleep and this was some insane dream?

"No time to explain. Where's your suitcase?" Tai turned to find the object in question sitting under Izzy's desk. "Never mind, I found it." He pulled the suitcase from its spot and began jamming clothes into it. Izzy just stared at him, blinking in disbelief. It had to be a dream, right?

"Tai, what is going on?" Izzy managed, his sleepy mind finally beginning to wake up.

"We're going on the road trip," Tai declared.

"Now?"

"Now," Tai said as he shoved some of Izzy's socks into a suitcase pocket. Izzy scratched the back of his head. If this was a dream, it would be considered a nightmare.

"Why?" Izzy asked, unsure of what else to say.

"Why not?" Tai countered. Izzy huffed in exasperation. If this was a joke, it was a bad one.

"I can't just go. My parents won't let me."

"Izzy we have to go now. It's important." Tai gave Izzy the most serious look he could. Izzy raised an eyebrow at him.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"It's just important that we leave now. It has to be now." Tai looked back at the suitcase and shoved in a few more shirts.

"Tai…" Izzy started, wincing as his nicely folded shirts were being abused and wrinkled beyond help.

"Please just trust me on this. It has to be now and it has to be like this." Tai dropped the shorts he was holding and walked resolutely toward Izzy. Izzy started to take a step back and Tai grabbed him by the shoulders. "It's something we have to do for Matt." Tai's voice held a serious tone that it almost never had.

"For Matt?" Izzy asked as he shrugged off Tai's hands.

"Yes. It's important," Tai said, nodding to emphasize his point.

"… My parents…" Izzy tried to argue weakly.

"Just leave them a note." Tai then turned and began jamming full contents of drawers into the overstuffed luggage.

"It's wrong to do it this way," Izzy tried arguing lamely.

"I don't think it is. I think it's the best way we could have picked to do this."

"What does that even mean? Tai, stop packing my suitcase!" Izzy was starting to get irritated. Matt was his friend and of course he wanted to help him, but he wasn't about to just go along with Tai's half-baked plan. Tai stopped packing and gave Izzy a peculiar look. It was something crossed between mischievousness and determination.

"I told Matt I'd pick you up. So either you just come with me… or I'm going to kidnap you. It's your choice Izzy."

* * *

It was 5:31am and Tai was late. He was supposed to meet them right outside TK's building with his father's car. Minutes ticked by and Tai didn't show up.

"He better not of slept through his alarm," Matt grumbled. Just as Matt took out his phone to call Tai, a familiar old, blue Toyota came tearing around the corner. The car stopped abruptly and Tai promptly jumped out of the driver's seat. He was followed less promptly by a very disturbed looking Izzy. Matt took notice that Izzy was still wearing pajamas.

"Hi, Izzy," TK greeted. Izzy ignored him and rounded on Matt.

"Do you have any idea what consequences I'm going to face when we return home?"

"You'll be grounded?" Tai tried as he popped the trunk of his car. Izzy flew his hands up in the air.

"It's a very likely possibility! I can't even say for certain, since I have never done something so obviously wrong and not thought out."  
"You left a note." Tai said as he began loading Mat and TK's luggage into the trunk.

"I can't believe this. I can't believe either of you."

"Calm down Izzy," Tai said.

Izzy opened the door to the back and climbed in without another word. TK was looking worriedly at all of them. "Is Izzy alright?" He asked with concern in his voice.

"He's fine," Tai said waving his hand dismissively. "Go ahead and get in the car. I've got your stuff, TK." Tai picked up what he assumed was TK's bag and began shoving it in-between two other suitcases. TK looked a bit weary of climbing into the backseat with an angry Izzy, but he went ahead and got in.

"Tai, what did you do to him exactly?" Matt asked as he attempted to shove his guitar into the trunk.

"Nothing really. It was just like we planned. I kidnapped him… but he seemed OK with it for awhile. I guess it all just sunk in when he was in the car. He's very grumpy when he first wakes up."

"Do you really mean you actually kidnapped him?" Matt stopped in his work when he realized his guitar case was no way going to fit in the trunk.

"Isn't that what you said to do?" Tai asked as he inspected the lack of free space they had.

"I was hoping you wouldn't actually go through with it."

"All I did was I called him on his cell to get him to open his front door. Then I packed for him … and then I grabbed him by the arm and forced him out of his home…."

"I can't believe he let you do that."

"I let him leave a note for his parents and I told him it was for a good cause… and he's really not that strong. I might have bruised him."

"Tai…"

"He's fine. If he really didn't want to come he would have put up more of a fight. Come on now, you're making us late. Why are you bringing your guitar anyway? It's not like you have to practice while you're away." Tai added the last part in a hushed whisper, just in case the other passengers could hear him and Matt didn't want them to know about his band.

"I just… I want it with me." Matt said staring at the slightly worn case. Tai sighed.

"It's going to have to go into the backseat with TK and Izzy. There's no way it's fitting in here."

"Well, why do _you_ have so much stuff? TK and I don't have nearly as much stuff as you and Izzy."

"It's mostly Izzy's. I just ended up throwing, like, everything he owns in a suitcase and a bunch of bags. He freaked when I nearly forgot his laptop."

"I bet he did," Matt said absently drumming his fingers against his guitar case. Matt's mind seemed to wander elsewhere for a moment and Tai shook his head at his friend.

"Come on, we can put it in the backseat." Tai shoved Matt to break him out of his odd stupor. Matt sighed and made his way around to the side of the vehicle, dragging his guitar case along with him.

* * *

After a bit of struggling and complaining Matt was able to wedge his beloved instrument in-between TK and Izzy on the seat. A process which led to Izzy being crushed only temporarily when Tai's grip on the thing had slipped.

"Sorry Izzy. It was an accident." Tai apologized once they were all buckled in. Izzy glowered grumpily at Tai and rubbed his bruised side. After that, Tai started the engine with enthusiasm. He even pumped his fist in the air as if he was getting ready for a big game. He pulled out of his parking space and with a grin looked over at Matt in the passenger seat.

"Which way, Matt?" He as ked quietly. Matt blinked for a minute, as if just realizing where he was.

"I'm not sure," he said flatly. Tai raised an eyebrow and looked from the road before him, to the passenger next to him and then back at Izzy behind him.

"What do you mean you're not sure? This whole thing was your idea and you don't know which way?" Tai whispered, hoping Izzy wouldn't hear and be upset by their complete lack of planning. There was a long pause.

"Just go… West." Matt said after a moment.

"West? What…. all the way West? Well, we'll hit the beach at least." Tai checked his blind spot and switched lanes.

"Just… for now… Westward." And again Matt got that look on his face as if his mind was wandering elsewhere. _We are SO not morning people_, Tai thought.

"OK, whatever you say. West is the direction that the sun rises from, right?"

Matt sighed.

* * *

Matt had only closed his eyes for a minute, but when he opened them again they were on an unfamiliar highway. He watched the world go by for a moment. The scenery was bright and full of strange buildings that blurred by, each structure becoming more indiscernible from the next. Matt rolled his head away from the window and wiped the sleep out of the corner of his eyes.

"Welcome back. Sleep well?" Tai asked, stifling a yawn. Matt only grunted in response. He turned his head to check on his little brother and Izzy. TK was sleeping with his head pressed against the window and Izzy had his head straight back against the seat. His mouth was slightly ajar and he was snoring not too softly.

"Time's it?" Matt managed to slur.

"Nearly ten. You passed out before we even got out of the city." Tai motioned to the backseat with one hand. "And they passed out right after we got on the seventeen."

"Seventeen…" Matt murmured.

"Yep, it goes all the way West." Tai rubbed his neck, trying to work out a kink that had developed there.

"Hmm," was all Matt said in response. There was a brief silence before Tai cleared his throat. "What is it?" Matt asked.

"We're going to need to stop soon," Tai said keeping his eyes straight ahead.

"Are you getting tired? You want to switch? I can drive for awhile," Matt offered. Tai shook his head slightly.

"My dad only wanted me driving the car… something about insurance. I just need to stop at a rest stop for a minute."

Matt mulled that over for a moment before something dawned on him.

"Tai, how did it go with _your_ parents?"

"What do you mean?" Tai cast him a sideways glance.

"Did you tell them about the road trip? I mean… they know you have the car right? So you would've had to tell them about it, right?"

"Yeah, I told them about it. Fortunately my mom and dad have never asked that many questions. As long as I'm not causing mass chaos, they're pretty mellow. Why? What did you tell your parents?"

"Nothing." Matt answered looking down at his hands. "I just left a note for them both."

"Oh." Tai responded lamely. There was a pause where Tai furrowed his brow in thought. "You know that's going to come back to bite you in the ass, right?" Tai cast a worried look at his friend.

"Yeah, I know." Matt answered in exasperation. "What was I supposed to do? Dad wouldn't want me leaving so suddenly and there was no way in hell Mom was going to let TK come right after she found out her mother died."

The mention of his grandmother's death caused an uncomfortable silence to fall on the car. Izzy had even stopped snoring in the backseat. Tai decided a slight change in subjects was in order.

"Did you tell Sora we were leaving today?" Tai asked nonchalantly. Matt balked slightly at the sudden question, but quickly switched gears to match his friend.

"No, I didn't." Matt said, looking back out the window.

"You didn't tell your girlfriend you were going out of town?" Tai began signaling to get off the highway.

"I had other things on my mind. She'll figure it out."

Tai let out a sound that was almost a laugh. "That's probably going to come back to bite you in the ass too."

"Well, then my ass is going to have lots of teeth marks in it. It's not like I'm not used to it." Matt rolled his eyes. Tai began laughing dryly.

"What're you guys talkin' about?" Came the half awake voice of TK. Matt jumped at his brother's voice. Apparently he had momentarily forgotten that he and Tai weren't alone in the car.

"Nothing," Tai responded quickly, "Oh, are you hungry TK? Matt has something you can sink your teeth into-"

Tai was interrupted by Matt punching him in the arm. "Ow, I mean we're stopping right now. Did you want to get down and get some snacks? I need caffeine; I'm going to get a couple of sodas."

TK glanced at Tai, who was grinning broadly and then at his brother who was giving Tai a stern look.

"You're strange, Tai." TK said with a small grin.

"In a good way though, right?" Tai said turning in his seat to look at the younger boy. TK nodded and his grin grew wide. Tai smirked, seemingly proud of his accepted oddness and Matt rolled his eyes.

From the backseat, Izzy let out a loud snore.

To Be Continued…..

A/N: Originally this part was supposed to be longer…. But dang I'm tired. More will be posted soon.

Coming up next time: Matt gets bit… and the boys have to find shelter for the night.


	3. Bumps in the Road

A/N: I know I said this part would be up soon! I am so sorry. You guys probably don't even remember what's going on…. I had a good reason, I swear! My laptop stopped working and I had to take it to Best Buy and they took it away from me for a long time. Then the wireless just completely stopped working so the stuff I had written couldn't even be posted. Then my grandfather passed away and I didn't really feel up to writing anything. I am so sorry. I will try to write more frequently now that I have my laptop back and the wireless should be up again soon.

Now, where were we?

**Bumps in the Road**

The boys pulled into a gas station with a large convenience mart.

"Somebody wake up Izzy," Tai said as he pulled the car up to an empty gas pump. While TK gently prodded Izzy's arm, Tai parked the car and jumped out enthusiastically. He ran to the back and opened the trunk. Matt followed Tai, though not as quickly.

"What are you looking for?" He asked when he noticed Tai shuffling through the luggage.

"Clothes for Izzy," Tai grunted, "I doubt he wants to be in his pajamas all day…. Here we go…. this bag I think." Tai pulled one bag from the many he had packed and began checking it for the necessary items. "I've seem to forgotten to pack him socks. Do you think he'll care?"

"What?! Tai…"

"Oh wait… here are some, never mind."

Izzy and TK soon joined Matt and Tai at the trunk and Tai gleefully gave Izzy the bag of clothes he had found. "Here Izzy, you can change in the restroom."

"Thanks," Izzy muttered, still not entirely awake. He took the bag and headed for the convenience store. Tai, Matt and TK followed behind him slowly, each one of the, taking the time to stretch out their legs that were sore from sitting so long.

Once inside, Tai became a snack grabbing whirlwind. He went down each aisle grabbing whatever caught his eye. Soon, he had an armful of snacks, drinks and candy. After visiting the restroom, Matt and TK had picked out one snack and one drink each. They watched Tai curiously as he showed no sign of stopping. Izzy then came out of the restroom wearing a fresh change of clothes and looking much more awake. He took one look at Tai and his arm full of goodies and let out a sigh.

"You do realize you have to budget for the whole trip, right Tai?"

Tai stopped abruptly at Izzy's words as if he was surprised someone was talking to him. He blinked at Izzy and then turned to Matt.

"I forgot, I have to go to the bathroom. Matt, hold my stuff." Tai then pushed his armload into Matt's hands.

"Tai!" Matt began to argue.

"And here, I found these. Try them on." Matt's world then became a shade of yellow as Tai slipped a pair of sunglasses onto his face. Matt was startled and found himself with no free hands to protect himself from the eyewear being forced on him. "I found one for you too, TK." Tai then slipped a pair on TK as well. Matt blinked and looked at his brother. TK's sunglasses were green and shaped like martini glasses. _What in the world?_ Matt thought. Then there was a click and he looked up to see Tai holding his cell phone up at eye level.

"Did you just take a picture?" Matt demanded.

"Yep, you guys look awesome."

"Tai!" Matt began to protest, but his friend then ran off to the restroom located in the back of the store. Matt sighed and looked at his little brother who was now slipping off the sunglasses to get a better look at them. Matt glanced around for a mirror, but didn't find one nearby.

"TK, do I want to know what these things on my face are shaped like?"

"They're guitars, Matt."

"That figures."

"At least he didn't give you the ones shaped like flamingos."

* * *

After purchasing all their snacks, getting into a brief argument over the road trip budget and filling up the car with gas the boys were back on the road again. They had just merged onto the freeway when Tai suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, somebody's phone was buzzing while you were all asleep. It buzzed a lot actually."

Matt shifted in his seat to reach for his phone. "Wasn't mine, I turned it off before we left."

TK and Izzy both checked their phone displays at the same time. TK made an odd chocking sound. "I have nine missed calls."

"I have five," Izzy added. Matt turned on his cell and waited. Tai then glanced at his phone briefly. "I had ten. You know what that means? It means I win."

"I have 24."

All eyes turned to Matt.

"OK, I guess Matt wins." Tai waited for some sort of response from Matt, but Matt just put his phone to his ear to check his messages. TK and Izzy slowly followed suit, each with a similar look of nervousness. The next ten minutes were strangely quiet as the three boys went through each message on their phones. After TK and Izzy had finished and emptied their voicemail boxes, Matt still had his phone pressed to his ear. Besides a furrowed brow his face conveyed very little emotion.

"Tai pull over, get off the highway," Matt said suddenly.

"What? Why?"

"Just do it," Matt ordered. Tai shook his head but did as he was told, getting off at the very next exit. He pulled into a gas station and parked the car in the first available spot. Matt abruptly got out of the car, slammed his door, walked about ten paces away and began dialing a number into his phone. The three remaining occupants simply stared silently. Matt soon began pacing and waving his arm, apparently having a rather fervent conversation with someone. A few words could be heard back in the car, but not enough to make any sense out of it. Izzy finally broke the awkward silence.

"I'm sorry about your grandmother TK," he said quietly. TK and Tai both turned to Izzy in surprise.

"How'd you find out about that?" Tai blurted, "I didn't say anything about it."

Izzy held up his cell. "Matt's dad called my parents and they called me. They weren't really angry about me leaving, but they were distressed about all of us choosing to leave suddenly after such a… difficult incident. They said it was poor judgment and my mother expressed disappointment in all of us."

There was another stretch of silence and Matt could be heard raising his voice outside. TK shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"My mom called me too… and dad," he said quietly. Tai watched TK in the rear view mirror, waiting for him to expound further, but he didn't. He just looked out his window dully, watching his brother walk further from the car and closer to the street.

"Well, my parents called me a couple of times…. then Mr. Ishida… then Kari and then my parents again. My parents weren't really mad… I think they were more confused than anything. All Mr. Ishida said was to have Matt call him back. Kari… she didn't leave a message, but she was probably calling to find out how you were doing, TK." Tai took a deep breath and looked like he was about to continue talking about his voice messages when TK suddenly got out of the car. By this point, Matt had wondered all the way to the street's edge and was sitting on the curb. From his angle, Tai couldn't tell if he was still on the phone. Tai sighed as he watched TK cautiously approach his brother. Once he was within a few feet of Matt, he stopped and looked like he might head back to the car; but then he quickly stepped forward, crossing the short distance that was separating him from his brother. TK then sat about an arm length away from Matt on the curb.

Tai and Izzy watched them both curiously. The two remaining boys were silent and the atmosphere in the car seemed to be thick with unanswered questions. Izzy, who had known very little about the situation before hand, wanted to gather more information. However, he was uncertain if this was the appropriate time. Eventually, after a long moment of silence, he decided to go with something general.

"Tai, do you think they're all right?"

Tai inhaled deeply through his nose and then unbuckled his seatbelt. Without a word he unlocked his door and slipped out of the car. Slightly annoyed, Izzy crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat to wait for them to return.

Tai walked up to the brothers, listening carefully, so that he would know if he was interrupting an important conversation. Matt and TK, however, were both strangely silent. Tai took the space between them as an invitation to sit down, so he did. The three boys sat there, feeling the breeze the cars created as they passed quickly by. Tai might have let the situation drag on a bit longer, but the sun was beating down on them and the concrete he was sitting on was damn hot.

"Who was on the phone, Matt?" Subtleness was not something Tai was known for and he considered it a waste of time in most instances anyway. Matt made a noise that almost sounded like a scoff and he shook his head. "Want me to guess?" Tai offered. Matt shook his head slightly and took a breath.

"It was my dad."

"Yeah? How is he?"

"Mad."

"How mad?"

"Really mad… He wants us to come home right now." Matt looked up at the clear blue sky and let out a sigh. TK remained silent, but was studying Matt carefully. Tai bit his lower lip briefly while he made a decision. He quickly turned to TK.

"Hey TK, can you do me a favor?"

TK was taken off guard, but he nodded.

"Can you go keep Izzy company? I don't think he was too happy about being left in the car alone."

TK took a glance at Matt, who was still looked skyward, and nodded. He then stood and began making his way back to the car.

"Don't drive away," Tai called casually after the younger boy. Tai then turned his attention to Matt again.

"Is it the most mad he has ever been?" Tai queried.

"Probably, I don't know," Matt said turning his gaze to the ground under his shoes.

"Why?" Tai asked simply. Matt looked at Tai and gave him a look that seemed to ask whether or not Tai was serious. Tai shrugged back at Matt. "So you left without telling him, your mom was probably upset too and that could have made him madder, but I don't think going home is going to make things better. Our parents will get over it, Matt… but if _you_ want to go home, just tell me and I'll drive back. If you think the road trip was a bad idea, just say so. We can still turn around at this point." Tai studied his friend's eyes carefully, but Matt made no sign of response. "Do you want to go back?" Tai asked finally. Matt glanced away at the phone in his hand and then back at Tai. He began to shake his head slowly and then with more assurance.

"No," he said quietly, "I want to keep going."

"OK then. We're going." Tai clapped his hands on his knees in emphasis. Then there was a pause and Matt was starting to get that distant look in his eye again.

"So were all those 24 calls from your dad?" Tai asked curiously. Matt shook his head again.

"About half of them. Some were from my mother, but most of them were from Sora. She left me about six messages."

"That doesn't sound… good."

"I think she's OK." Matt put his phone away in his pocket.

"Really?"

"Well the first messages she left were kind of pissed sounding and then I guess she found out more about what happened… about my grandmother dieing and she was still mad, but worried I guess. Then the last message she left, she said: 'Matt, do whatever you feel like you need to do. Call me when you get back.' Then that was it."

"Do whatever you feel like you need to do," Tai echoed and Matt nodded. "Is that a good thing?"

"I guess…" Matt said with a shrug.

"OK, well now that that's all settled." Tai stood up and brushed his shorts off. "Are you going to actually tell me where we are going? Because if we keep going this way we're going to hit the ocean and unless you wanted to try driving to China…"

"Yamagata," Matt interrupted as he stood up as well. Tai cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Excuse me? Is that a place or a person?"

"It's a place," Matt turned and began walking back to the car, Tai followed with his hands in his pockets.

"Is it west?" Tai asked.

"It's probably more north now."

"Wait, then why are we still going west?" Matt turned and looked at Tai as if surprised.

"Because I thought you wanted to go to the beach."

"We're going to the beach?!" Tai's started hopping with each step he took.

"Well, yeah…. I figured that's what you wanted to do." Matt quickly moved to avoid being run into as Tai's walking was turning into some sort of demented skipping. Tai pumped his fist into the air.

"Yes! The beach!"

Once back at the car Tai pulled out a road map that had so far gone unused on the trip and the other three boys began to settle themselves in again for the ride. Izzy grumbled something about having to wait in the hot car, but they all knew it was only half-hearted.

"TK, you want to sit up front?" Matt asked out of the blue.

"No, I'm fine."

"Let me know if you want to switch."

"Sure."

Tai handed the map to Matt as he buckled himself in.

"What's wrong Matt? You don't want to sit up front with me anymore? And here I was going to let you be the navigator." Tai grinned broadly. Matt began unfolding the map and shook his head.

"Sometimes it's better if he sits in the front. TK gets car sick on long trips."

Tai stopped in the middle of starting the engine and turned slowly to look at a slightly sheepish looking TK in the backseat.

"Please don't puke in the car TK," Tai said seriously. TK waved his hands in the air.

"I'm _fine_. I haven't thrown up in a car since I was a little."

"Seriously, don't vomit."

"I won't Tai."

"You swear?"

"Leave him alone, Tai," Matt said while rolling his eyes. Tai turned back to the task of starting the car. Soon they were getting back on the highway again.

"I mean, if you have to, at least puke on Izzy."

"Hey!" Izzy's protest sounded from the back seat. Tai burst out laughing at his response and Matt cracked the smallest of smiles. Tai caught his friend's grin out of the corner of his eye and began grinning even more.

"This is going to be awesome," Tai declared, beaming.

* * *

Many hours later, the boys were still driving. They had driven through some cities, some small towns and generally unfamiliar territory, stopping along the way as needed when nature called or when something needed to be retrieved from the trunk. Contrary to what Tai had thought earlier, Matt realized they would need to go a bit north as, due to some very large mountains, there was no direct west highway that hit the coast.

"Have either of you two even ever _looked _at a map of Japan? There is no highway through the Japanese Alps."

"Well, you could have told us that sooner, Izzy."

"I would have if you had told me exactly where you are planning on going."

It was late afternoon when the highway they were on ended and they found themselves on a main road. According to Matt's interpretation of the map, they would be hitting the coast soon. In fact they should have already hit it, but there was a great deal of traffic when they went through the cities and after they stopped at a rest stop, Tai tended to go the wrong way when getting back onto the highway. All of these things delayed them, which was causing road trip morale to lower. They hoped that with the coast, they would also find a hotel where they could spend the night.

"All the decent hotels are probably booked. If I had just been able to know where we were going ahead of time I would have been able to plan more accordingly." Izzy had been typing on his laptop and murmuring for a good hour. Morale was indeed low.

"Are you sure you know how to read a map?" Tai asked for the hundredth time.

"You know, if you hadn't kept taking the wrong on ramp, we would have been there by now."

"Well, maybe if you hadn't distracted me by messing with my CD player…"

"Well, your music kind of sucks, Tai."

Tai actually gasped in horror. "My music does not _suck_. My music is incredibly awesome."

"Whatever."

"You know what? It's my car, so I get to pick the music. And if you don't like it, you can walk the rest of the way."

"Your _dad's_ car you mean… and I would almost rather walk, than listen to-"

"I can see the ocean!" TK suddenly shouted from the backseat. He was leaning as far as his seatbelt would allow and pointing out Izzy's window. All three boys turned their heads at once. Truthfully, they had probably been able to see the ocean for a while, but they had found themselves distracted with inconsequential bickering.

"The beach!" Tai exclaimed. "Let's get closer!" Tai took the very next left turn he saw and sped wildly toward the ocean. Soon they were driving on a road that ran right along the coast. Tai was drumming his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. He was scanning his surroundings, looking for a place to park. His expression changed to one that seemed to read: _Screw it_ and then he quickly pulled the car over and parked on the side of the road.

"Tai, I am not sure we can park here…" But Izzy's concern was never heard as Tai was out the door as soon as he put the car in park. Matt hastily folded the map and tossed it onto the dashboard before exiting the vehicle as well. TK and Izzy followed suit.

Matt stepped onto the last bit of pavement between the car and the sand. There was a hill of sand that Tai had already run down to get to the beach below. He was now making a beeline for the water, tearing off articles of clothing as he went. Shoes and socks were already tossed aside and now he was pulling his shirt over his head and running blindly toward the waves. Izzy crossed his arms and leaned up against the car.

"How much time do you think we are going to spend here?" Izzy asked. TK shrugged and blinked in disbelief as he watched Tai begin to yank off his shorts. All three boys jerked in surprise.

"Are those… are those swimming trunks?" TK asked in disbelief.

"When did he change into swimming trunks?" Izzy looked at Matt for an answer. Matt just continued to watch as his best friend ran straight into the waves.

"We weren't sure if we were going to hit the beach or not. He must have been wearing them just in case." Matt said in bemusement.

"Wait, so he has been wearing swimming trunks under his clothes this whole time?" Izzy, however, didn't get an answer as Matt suddenly took off running towards the ocean. He got down the hill and then began to tear off his shoes and then his socks while running.

"Wait, Matt!" TK called and began to descend down the hill as well. But Matt was sprinting and was already halfway down the beach by the time TK hit the more level sand. Matt didn't slow down or look back. It seemed that he was even picking up speed, not bothering to remove any of his other clothing. Tai was standing in the waves, fighting to stay upright and apparently gleefully yelling at the ocean as it continued to try and pull him down. He never saw it coming….

Matt barreled into Tai full force and both boys fell gracelessly into the water. Both were pulled under for a moment, but then Matt came up with a triumphant smirk on his face. A second later, Tai came up sputtering, with a look of complete shock spread across his features.

"I'm going to get you for that one Ishida!" But Tai's threat was ineffective as he began coughing profusely at the end of it.

"Just try it!" Matt called back as he frantically worked against the water to put some distance between him and Tai. The decision to leave all his clothes on, however, was working against him as his soggy jeans weighed him down greatly. His movements were much too slow and soon Tai was upon him and pushing him back under the water. Not that he had to push very hard, Matt was struggling so hard to get away that he ended up tripping himself up and falling at the slightest nudge. Matt disappeared under a wave and Tai lifted both fists in victory.

"I'm King of the Beach!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. Unfortunately, his reign was cut short when Matt grabbed his ankle and knocked him over into the water again. Then they both ended up playing a game where they took turns trying to drown each other. Tai was losing because he kept laughing maniacally and always ended up with a mouthful of saltwater. TK and Izzy decided to watch at a safe distance. Izzy, who really hadn't been planning on getting wet, was content to sit on the dry sand and watch the waves come in. TK had taken off his shoes and was carefully carrying them as he walked through the wet sand, letting the small waves brush just barely past his toes.

Izzy was watching the sun set and was not really paying attention to the fact that Tai and Matt had stopped yelling and were talking quietly among the waves. If he had been paying more attention, he would have noticed Matt taking off his sopping shirt and handing it to Tai. And he would have noticed Tai folding the shirt and wringing it so that it was perfectly twisted. No, he didn't notice until it was much too late. Tai had crawled out of the ocean and was already upon him. Before he could even widen his eyes at what was about to happen, Tai had already flicked his wrist and sent the wet shirt snapping at Izzy's leg. Izzy could not get away in time.

"AHHHH!" Izzy yelled as he scrambled to get away from Tai. "Why would you do that?!" Izzy demanded, rubbing the red mark on his shin.

"Because you're too far away to splash water on." Tai answered as if was the most logical explanation in the world. Matt walked up to stand beside Tai.

"Sorry Izzy. It wasn't my idea," Matt said rolling his eyes.

"It's your shirt," Tai pointed out as he began to twist it up again. Matt took a step back from his now armed friend.

"Don't you dare," Matt warned. A mischievous grin spread across Tai's face. Izzy began quickly walking back to the car and when Tai turned to watch him go, Matt shoved him hard and then began to sprint towards the car as well. He ran past Izzy in a flurry and Izzy, picking up on the chase that was about to ensue, begun to run as well. It only took a moment for Tai to recover from the shove and he began chasing after his friends, yelling random things about being king of the beach the entire time. TK, who had been watching the scene develop, decided to follow at a safer distance.

_Damn soccer_, Matt mentally cursed. For he knew it was Tai's love of the sport that made him the faster runner. Tai ran past Izzy and began closing in on Matt. _Damn athlete, damn running, damn… shoe?_ Matt saw Tai's shoe just a few feet in front of him. Trying as hard as he could not to lose momentum, Matt scooped up the footwear and hurled it behind him towards a laughing Tai.

"Mwahahaha-pfft! Ow! My face! My eyes! I'm blind!"

_That sounds promising_, Matt thought as he continued to run. He could hear running footsteps behind him but he didn't look up until he had run up the hill and slammed both hands down on the hood of the car.

"Safe!" He called automatically. Breathing hard, he looked up to see Izzy come panting up beside him. Izzy put one hand on the car hood, nodded and then sunk to the ground gasping for air. Matt looked back to see Tai standing at the bottom of the hill, rubbing his eyes and looking incredibly annoyed at him.

"Now I've got sand in my eyes and since when did we say the car was 'safe'?" Tai asked.

"Since I said it was," Matt called. Matt then began scanning the beach for his younger brother. TK was still making his way toward them, pausing every now and then to pick up a discarded shoe or sock. Tai followed Matt's gaze to TK and then he glanced back at his friend. Suddenly, a look of apprehension appeared on his face.

"Matt do you have the car keys?" Tai asked.

"Why would I have them?"

Tai began patting the pockets on his swimming trunks, but of course they weren't there. Tai turned and looked out at the sand.

"Tai?" Matt asked. "What did you do with them?"

Tai swallowed and looked at his friend with concern. He motioned with his hand at the expanse of sand stretching before them. "I think I dropped them somewhere out there."

To be continued…..

A/N: Originally I was going to go further with this chapter, but that beach scene was such a blast to write, it just took up more space and time then I thought it would. Hopefully nothing was too screwed up, I was really tired when I wrote parts of this.

Next time: The boys have to find a place to stay for the night. Leave me a review, I will try to have the next part up soon.


	4. Weary Travelers

A/N: Thank you for all the awesome reviews. You guys are the best. This part I think is a bit shorter than the last couple of chapters. On a side note, I have now hit Tai in the face with footwear in two of my stories. I didn't even think about it while writing the last part, but yeah, that's the second time I've assaulted Tai that way in a story. LOL. Read on gentle readers.

**Weary Travelers**

Tai hurried frantically toward TK, nearly running into the younger boy when he reached him.

"TK, do you have my shorts?" Tai desperately began grabbing at the items in TK's arms.

"Y-yes." TK stammered, quickly producing the requested item from his collection of clothes. Tai snatched the shorts away and began rummaging through the pockets, but he shook his head when his search came up empty. Tai dropped the garment and started walking towards the ocean, searching the ground anxiously. Matt descended the small sand hill and approached the bewildered TK with an irritated look on his face.

"TK, did you happen to see anything that looked like car keys when you were walking over here?" Matt spoke evenly, trying to remain calm. The younger boy shook his head slowly.

"Did we lose the keys?" TK asked, concern reflected in his eyes.

"_Tai_ lost them."

Tai made a gasping sort of noise as if to argue, but apparently couldn't come up with a good retort, so he just continued his search.

"Does he know about where he lost them?" TK asked, apparently much better at remaining calm than his brother. Matt motioned towards the ocean.

"Of _course_ not; they could be anywhere on the beach. For all he knows he dropped them in the god damn ocean."

"Matt…" TK murmured. Matt brushed the wet hair out of his eyes and took a deep breath. Matt looked at TK who was shuffling his feet and reminded himself that he was the older brother and shouldn't be losing his cool when he had TK to look after on this trip.

"Sorry," Matt apologized quickly, "Why don't you go put that stuff on the car, and then you can help us look." TK nodded and Matt began searching the sand, following in Tai's footprints. TK made his way up the small hill with his load and when he got to the car he deposited the clothes on the hood. Izzy was standing quietly, looking out at the beach as if it was an equation he was trying to solve.

"Are you alright Izzy?" Izzy turned towards TK, but his eyes didn't leave the sandy horizon.

"I'm trying to discern at which point Tai would have misplaced the car keys." Izzy's eyes remained forward and calculating. "It would be unlikely for him to have taken them all the way to the ocean. However, it's most likely that he put them in his pocket, in which case they would have gone missing when he removed his shorts…. Which means the keys would be close to the waves...."

TK nodded in agreement and then pulled the door handle on the driver's side of the vehicle. To his surprise, and relief, the door opened. _I guess Tai didn't lock it. Well he did run out of the car pretty fast. That's one good thing; at least we aren't locked out from our stuff._

"…At first it would seem nearly impossible to find them amongst the sand, but if we retrace our footsteps the keys shouldn't be too far…unless they were _thrown_ out of his pocket, but even then, the distance they could have traveled couldn't have been more than a few feet… and I don't think they would be covered with sand, the wind hasn't been exceptionally strong today and-"

"The keys are in the car."

"What?"

"They're right here on the seat. Tai never took them anywhere. He forgot them and left them in the car." TK held the keys up so Izzy could see them clearly. The boys looked at each other for a moment and then turned towards the sand to see Matt and Tai searching in the distance.

* * *

Matt and Tai had been arguing for about fifteen minutes. Each boy growing more and more irritated as time went by. Matt was unhappy about the keys being flung into sandy oblivion and Tai, unable to defend what happened, was becoming annoyed by his friend's irritability.

"Unbelievable Tai." Matt muttered for the tenth time.

"You think I wanted to lose them?" Tai shot Matt a glare.

"If you weren't such a spaz this wouldn't have happened." That was pretty much the last straw for Tai.

"You know what? You need to calm the hell down. The whole reason we're here at all is because _you_ needed to leave."

Matt didn't have a response for that and they settled into an uncomfortable silence. Matt attempted to brush the sand off of his still damp jeans.

"Well, sorry it was so much trouble for you," He finally muttered. Tai figured Matt hadn't actually wanted him to hear that comment, but he did.

"Well, yeah, it was trouble, but you know what? That's OK. Because we're friends and that's what friends do.... Had they been your keys and you had lost them I would've just helped you look, and I wouldn't give you crap, because I would know you were probably already kicking yourself for losing them in the first place. Friends do that kind of stuff. They drive across the country for each other and look for needles in haystacks."

Matt remained quiet and stared intently at the sand below his feet. Tai ran a hand through his damp hair. "I mean, geez..." He trailed off.

"I guess I haven't been… handling things the way I should," Matt confessed awkwardly. Tai knew this was Matt's way of apologizing and he accepted it instantly.

"Well, not everyone can be an awesome spaz like me."

Matt looked up to see his friend grinning at him like an idiot and Matt let the slightest smirk cross his face.

Suddenly, the sound of a car honking caused them both to look up in surprise. In the distance they could see TK sitting in Tai's father's car, blinking the lights and honking the horn enthusiastically.

"They found the keys!" Tai exclaimed. Letting out a sigh of relief, he immediately began trotting back with Matt following close behind.

"Are we OK?" Matt asked as he matched his friend's pace.

"Of course." Tai then gave Matt a quick shove. "I'll race you back!"

* * *

It took a bit longer than expected for the boys to continue on with their road trip. After TK told them where the keys had been found, there was much eye rolling from Matt and Tai tried futilely to defend his actions of leaving the keys in the car.

"Obviously, I thought _you_ were going to grab them."

"Why would I grab them? You were the one _driving_!"

"But _you're_ the navigator!"

Once that had settled down, there came the task of actually getting in the car. Both Tai and Matt were still rather damp and had sand clinging to their clothes and bare feet. After a few minutes of trying to dry themselves off and remove the sand, Tai decided to just forget it and that a little saltwater and sand wouldn't permanently damage the car.

They were all tired from the day of driving and the sun had set by the time they had all piled into the vehicle again. Tai had elected to stay in only his swimming trunks and drive shoeless. That way, he argued, they could get going and find a place to stay for the night sooner. Tai's driving, unfortunately, grew worse when he wasn't wearing shoes and Matt found himself clutching his seat in terror more than once.

They soon discovered that (if they were reading the map correctly) they were just South of the coast city, Itoigawa.

"Izzy, what do you know about it?" Tai asked, automatically knowing that he could rely on Izzy to have such information stored in his head.

"Itoigawa is in the southern Niigata prefecture," Izzy stated absently, looking out his window.

"…And?" Tai prodded.

"And I have never been there," Izzy turned towards the front, catching Tai looking at him in the rearview mirror.

"But what do you know about it?" Tai questioned. Izzy sighed and shut his eyes for a moment, mentally accessing the information Tai knew he had memorized.

"It's known for it's variety of traditional Japanese performance art. Historically, it's located at the end of the famous _shio no michi_."

"Is there a mall?" Tai asked suddenly.

"What?"

"You know, a mall. Is there a mall there?"

"… I don't know." Izzy answered honestly. Tai looked severely disappointed.

"Oh," he muttered quietly.

"Let's just worry about finding a hotel for the night. We can worry about finding a shopping center later," Matt rolled his eyes and tapped the map. "You need to turn right here, Tai."

* * *

Once they reached Itoigawa, they drove around aimlessly for nearly an hour, looking for a suitable cheap motel.

"Are we lost?" TK asked from the back seat.

"No," Matt answered immediately. "You have to know where you are going, to be lost," Matt added under his breath.

It took another ten minutes before the boys found what looked to be an acceptable motel with a vacancy sign lit up in front of it. They parked in the first available space and Tai made a beeline for the office.

"Tai! Put your clothes on!" Matt called after him. Tai turned abruptly and ran back to the car.

"I forgot. Where are my shoes?" Tai jumped back into the driver's seat and began rummaging through the mess that had accumulated on the car floor.

As soon as Tai was fully dressed, the boys walked into the office together and continued with the tedious process of checking in. They pulled their money together for a room that (with Tai's insistence) overlooked the small pool and with two queen size beds. Tai wanted to go for two rooms so that nobody would have to share a bed, but Matt and Izzy reminded him that they had to budget. The cost to stay the night came to over 6000 Yen. Matt helped put in TK's share, since he had the least amount of money.

Soon after all of the financial issues were sorted out, they found themselves standing outside a room on the second floor. Izzy was given the room keycard to hold onto as Tai had proven himself to be untrustworthy and they all believed Izzy was the most responsible anyway. The door opened on the second try and they piled into the room, throwing their luggage on the floor. Tai collapsed into the bed closest to the door and kicked off his shoes.

"Finally! I'm _so_ tired!"

Matt sat his bag and guitar on the next bed and TK followed suit. Izzy dropped his many bags on the floor and began searching through them for his pajamas and toothbrush.

"Tai, where's my toothbrush?" Izzy asked. Tai shrugged from his position on the bed. Izzy began muttering under his breath. Apparently, he found Tai's packing job to be 'deplorable.'

"Who am I sharing with?" Tai asked hitting the space next to him on the mattress.

"Izzy." Matt responded quickly.

"Why Izzy?" Tai asked curiously.

"Because you both snore," Matt smirked.

"I do not snore," Izzy declared, clearly offended.

"Yes, you do." Matt and Tai said in unison. Izzy looked puzzled.

"No one has ever accused me of snoring."

"That's because you don't have siblings to point it out." Tai said rolling off the bed and onto his feet. "Speaking of which, I should call Kari to see how things are going back home." Tai then rose to his feet and left the room, cell phone in hand.

"He's not wearing any shoes," TK pointed out after a moment of quiet.

"No, he isn't," Matt muttered. Matt then grabbed his own phone and headed out the door as well. "I'm going to walk around. I'll be back."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Tai was wandering back to the room with an armful of snacks. He had found a vending machine while wandering around the premises. He was just beginning to ascend the stairs when he noticed a figure in the dark watching him from the top step. Startled, Tai jumped and dropped a bag of chips. As his eyes adjusted he recognized the familiar blond hair.

"What's up Matt?" Tai asked as he bent down to retrieve his fallen junk food. Matt shrugged, an action that was completely lost on Tai, who was too busy trying to climb the steps without dropping anything else. When he reached the top, Tai sat down beside his friend and offered him a candy bar. Matt shook his head, so Tai began eating it enthusiastically. "Everythin' alright?" Tai asked through chocolate and caramel.

"Yeah," Matt answered. Tai nodded to the phone in Matt's hand.

"Who were you talking to?"

"My dad," Matt sighed.

"How's that going?" Tai asked, taking another large bite of his candy.

"Really well actually."

"Really?" It was pretty dark and Tai couldn't see Matt's expression so he wasn't too sure of his friend's mood. Not that Matt's face usually gave away his emotions, but Tai had learned to tell the difference between most of Matt's expressions. It wasn't easy as, many times, a simple eyebrow twitch could be the difference between anger and sadness.

"He's calmed down a lot. He just kind of flew off the handle there for a while. I mean, he still doesn't like that we left without telling anyone… or the circumstances we left under."

Tai nodded and wondered at how Matt was avoiding directly mentioning his grandmother's death and yet had claimed to not feel any sadness upon hearing the news of her demise.

"So, he's OK?" Tai asked.

"Yeah, I think so. He said to just be careful and we'll talk about it more when I get back."

"You going to be grounded?"

"Who knows." Matt said with a shrug. They sat for a moment and stared into the night together. Tai broke the silence with a loud yawn.

"I'm going in. Are you coming?" Tai asked, gathering his snacks and standing up. Matt nodded and followed his friend.

"Dude, if you keep eating all that crap, you're going to make yourself throw up." Matt warned. Tai just laughed.

"Well, then be glad you're not the one sleeping in the same bed as me."

* * *

The lights were all out and the room was quiet except for the soft sounding snores coming from Tai's open mouth. When they had first settled down for the night it had been a bit awkward for Izzy and Tai. Matt and TK had shared a bed when they were younger so they didn't mind and Tai had often shared a bed with Kari, so he didn't really mind that aspect either. Izzy, however, had never shared a bed with a sibling and it turned out that Izzy kicked in his sleep, which caused Tai to kick him back. Due to near constant soccer training, Tai was a much better kicker and the two boys got into a sleepy disagreement where Tai threatened to make Izzy sleep in the bathroom. They eventually fell asleep as far away from each other as they could with out falling off the bed.

Time ticked by slowly and TK tossed and turned, occasionally getting too close and kicking Matt's leg by accident. _Kid always did toss and turn in his sleep when he was little. Guess it's not something he's going to grow out of._ Matt thought to himself, staring at the back of his brother's head. Abruptly, TK turned and faced Matt, his eyes obviously open. Matt was surprised at finding TK to be wide awake.

"Go to sleep Teek," Matt whispered.

"I can't sleep," TK whispered back.

"Do you need more blanket?"

"No, it's fine. It is really cold in here though."

"Tai likes to run the air conditioner at full blast all night because he can't do it at home." Matt shifted the blanket so that more of it would be covering TK.

"It's fine. The reason I can't sleep isn't because I'm cold, really."

Matt propped his head up on his arm and gave TK a look of concern. "Why can't you sleep, then?"

TK paused looking at his brother for a moment as if he was looking for something in his face. Matt stared back not sure what his little brother expected of him. "Do you wish you hadn't left?" Matt asked. TK shook his head.

"I was just thinking," TK explained.

"Thinking about what?" Matt asked.

"'Bout Grandma," TK said in a voice barely above a whisper. Matt felt himself emotionally withdraw. He didn't want to talk about this. He still hadn't been able to get his head around his own feelings yet (or lack thereof) and he didn't know if he could help TK with his.

"What about her?" Matt asked in a voice that sounded almost robotic.

"Actually, I was thinking about the time I told her I wanted to be a police officer when I grew up… I think I was, like, five."

"I remember when you went through that phase," Matt reminisced. When the boys were younger they would often visit their grandmother in the summer time. However, as time went by, their visits became less and less frequent.

"I was just thinking about what she said to me when I told her that," TK continued his story. A loud snore erupted from Tai and the brothers fell silent until Tai's snoring returned to normal.

"What did she say to you?" Matt whispered so quietly TK could barely make out the words over the air conditioner and Tai's snores. TK paused for a minute as if trying to recall the situation exactly.

"She said: Why would you want to do that? You're so small. You should do something quieter." TK propped his head up on his arm to match his brother. "I was just thinking about why she said that."

"She was just... kind of mean TK. She caused a lot of problems with the family by saying stuff like that. She just wasn't really that nice of a person." Matt let his head hit his pillow again.

"But," TK argued, "she did _care _about us Matt. Mom used to say she just wasn't good at showing it... She told me I should do something quieter because she didn't want me getting hurt. She loved us."

"She loved _you_," Matt corrected. _You were the angel child. _He added mentally. TK scrunched up his face at Matt's remark.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked. Matt rolled over to face the wall. He hadn't really meant to say it aloud anyway. It was just because he was so tired that he was letting things like that slip out.

"Nothing. Go to sleep, Teek. We have to check out early tomorrow morning."

"Matt…" TK started.

"Good night," Matt said with finality. TK sighed in frustration and burrowed deeper into the blankets. He watched his older brother's back trying to see if Matt really was asleep, but then, before he knew it, he had slipped into a deep sleep.

Matt stayed very still for a long time. Waiting until he could hear the soft rhythmic breathing that would tell him his brother was truly asleep. When he was absolutely sure his brother was out for the night, Matt rolled over onto his back to stare at the ceiling. His thoughts drifted to his conversation with TK and to the trip they were on. He thought about his dad… and his band… and school…and his mother... and his grandmother. Matt swore under his breath and sat up. He quietly swung his legs over the side of the bed and slipped on his shoes.

Then, in the middle of the night, Matt walked across the room and out the door, leaving his brother and friends sleeping peacefully, unaware of his absence.

To be continued….

A/N: Done! I'm so tired! I wanted so badly to finish another part before the month was over. Mission accomplished. Sorry if it wasn't amazing, It was a bit rushed. _ We'll have some more insight into Matt's Grandmother's character next time. Please leave a review. I love them.


	5. Northwards

A/N: This took longer than I thought it would because I went to Anime Expo July 4th weekend and then I spent the next couple weeks in an anime coma. I spent every free moment I had watching anime or reading manga. Good times.

You all left me some really great reviews. There was some speculating on what Matt was going to do and others on what Tai's reaction would be over his missing friend. I loved it. Thanks so much for all your reviews. There was one person who asked if this was the same grandmother from the movie. The answer is: Not exactly. While she may have some of the same traits as that character she is mostly my own creation. I guess you could say she is roughly based on her, but I really think of her as a different person. Did that makes sense? Anyway, Enjoy!

**Northwards**

The first thought Tai had was that somebody was going to pay dearly for poking him while he was still trying to sleep. Then the poking turned into a slight shaking and his last desperate attempts to cling to slumber failed completely.

"Mmmmuph…" He protested, squeezing his eyes shut tighter and trying to move away from the source of the shaking. Then he realized someone was calling his name in a frantic hushed whisper. _TK, _Tai's mind concluded drowsily. TK was poking, shaking and calling him for some reason. _How weird, _Tai thought groggily. _He sounds kind of upset_.

"What'sa matter?" Tai slurred, still not bothering to open his eyes. There was a brief pause where TK took a deep breath.

"Matt's gone," TK answered in a voice that sounded more than a little worried. Tai's eyes snapped open and he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"What?" He asked, squinting at the younger boy.

"Matt's not here," TK said a bit more loudly. Tai scrubbed at his face with a hand to try and wake himself up.

"Are you sure?" Tai's voice still sounded gruff from being asleep.

"Yes," TK answered with a tone that almost sounded annoyed. Tai pulled himself out of bed and stumbled across the floor towards the table that had been provided with their room.

"What time is it?" Tai asked, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

"Almost six." TK answered.

"Why would he be gone?" Tai was literally holding himself up with the table as his legs didn't seem to have fully woken up yet.

"I don't know. I just woke up and he was gone." TK was twisting the bottom of his shirt anxiously between his fingers. The boy didn't seem to be able to stand still, he was so worried.

"Ah Geez." Tai grumbled. A snore then erupted from Izzy. "Wake up Izzy." Tai demanded. Izzy made no sign of waking and just continued snoring. Tai grabbed a shoe from the floor and chucked it at his sleeping friend. It hit him in his side and Izzy sat up with a sleep strangled gasp.

"Huh?" He managed to articulate.

"Matt's been kidnapped," Tai said simply.

"What are you…? What time is it?" Izzy asked.

"Almost six," TK repeated.

"What happened with Matt?" Izzy wobbled like he was going to fall back into the mattress and go right back to sleep.

"He's gone," TK said quietly. Izzy blinked, trying to clear the sleep from his eyes.

"Maybe he just went to go get something to eat." Izzy mumbled. Tai turned away from the table holding a card up in his hand.

"Well, then he would be stuck outside. He left the room key here."

* * *

After double checking to make sure Matt was absolutely, positively not in the room, Tai decided to organize and send out the search party.

"OK. TK, check all the stairways. I'll check the parking lot."

"What about me?"

"Izzy, you stay here in case he comes back. Everyone got it?" There were brief nods all around. Tai, who was wearing his shoes with his pajamas, opened the door with gusto, took a step out, surveyed his surroundings and pointed out towards the pool below them. "Oh look, there he is."

TK pushed himself forward to see where Tai was motioning. "Are you serious?" He asked, worried Tai was playing a joke on him. But it wasn't a joke. Matt was indeed sitting at the edge of the pool in plain sight with his legs dangling in the water. "What is he doing?" TK asked in disbelief.

"Don't know," Tai answered. Izzy had joined the other two boys and was staring down at Matt curiously.

"There's a fence around the entire perimeter and the gate should be locked at this time in the morning…" Izzy trailed off as he collected his thoughts.

"So… he jumped the fence," TK sighed in exasperation. Tai suddenly clapped his hands.

"Well, the search party was a success. TK, Izzy, both of you can go back to sleep knowing it's been a job well done. Now, I'm going to go get my insane friend. Be back in a minute." Tai then walked off toward the stairwell with a casual wave.

Once he began to descend the stairs, Tai sighed. He had no idea what Matt was doing or thinking or thinking of doing, but he figured there had to be some kind of reason for trespassing on hotel property after hours. Once Tai arrived at the fence he climbed over it with only a little bit of trouble. It's was far from the first time he had climbed over a locked gate… Usually those other incidents involved Matt as well.

Matt didn't turn around when Tai clambered over the gate, making a great deal of noise, disturbing the morning quiet. The blonde boy didn't even look up when Tai strolled over to him, his shoes thudding softly against the pavement. As he got closer Tai realized that Matt was sitting incredibly still, his legs dangling lazily in the water below, his arms folded loosely around himself, his head bowed and chin resting against his chest… almost as if he was asleep. Tai was soon standing beside his friend and Matt still didn't look up. Tai cleared his throat and Matt made the smallest jerking motion in surprise. He blinked and looked up at Tai wearily.

"Please tell me you weren't asleep while sitting on the edge of a pool," Tai said with a sigh.

"I wasn't really…" Matt mumbled turning his gaze to the water before him.

"Sure you weren't. People drown doing stuff like that you know." Tai sat down next to his friend, sitting cross legged to avoid getting wet.

"I wasn't," Matt insisted blearily.

"OK, so what _were_ you doing? Just fancied getting your feet wet at the crack of dawn?"

"I couldn't sleep," Matt rubbed at his eyes with the palm of his hand.

"Most people count sheep when that happens. How long have you been out here?" Tai was becoming worried, but tried his best to sound casual.

"I don't know. A while I guess; I forgot the key to get back in."

"You could have knocked."

"I didn't want to wake you all up." Matt leaned forward at that, as if holding himself upright was much too tiresome. He really did look like he might fall face first into the pool.

Tai eyed his friend suspiciously. Matt wasn't exactly making eye contact and Tai could tell something was really off with his friend. He looked absolutely awful. He had huge circles under his eyes and they were red as if he hadn't…

"Matt did you sleep at _all_ last night?"

"I told you, I couldn't sleep," Matt muttered, slowly shaking his head.

"Well, I thought maybe you woke up and couldn't get back to sleep… not that you've been out here _all_ night." Something else then occurred to Tai. "Dude, when was the last time you _ate_?"

"I'm not hungry." He muttered with a shrug. Tai thought about it for a moment, but he couldn't recall Matt eating anything at all the day before. Tai bit his lip and watched as Matt stared off into space.

"Seriously, what's going on with you? Why are you out here?" Matt shrugged again in response. "Matt… Come on." Tai encouraged, "you can tell me, you know?" Matt sighed and closed his eyes wearily. _He's so tired._ Tai thought worriedly.

"TK was talking to me last night… about stuff."

"Stuff?" Tai raised an eyebrow.

"About our grandmother and… and I don't know. I just wanted to take a walk, but then… I just...."

"You just stayed out here?" Tai guessed. He looked down at the water and wondered how long Matt had been dangling his legs in the pool. It was a good thing it wasn't that cold out or he would have to worry about his friend becoming hypothermic.

"If I had the car keys I probably would have taken off." Matt said flatly and Tai wasn't even sure if he had meant to say it out loud.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that… Matt, what is going on with you?" His friend was seriously starting to worry him.

"She said I was wasting my life. She looked at me and said I disappointed her."

"_Excuse_ _me_?"

"And TK never had to do anything to get praise. She just gave it to him. But even to him she was mean sometimes… she was just… ugh… a mean, horrible woman," Matt put his face in his hands and leaned his elbows on his knees.

"Wha-who?"

"My grandmother!" Matt threw his hands up in the air. Tai actually jumped in surprise and then he became convinced that staying up all night and not eating was causing Matt to lose his grip on sanity. "I was, like, the shame of the family to her. You have no idea. She told me I was wasting my time with music. Said I would never accomplish a damn thing with it… and look! She was actually right. The band's finished… and now she's gone. And what am I supposed to feel? I don't know how I'm supposed to feel…. I don't _know_." Matt rubbed at his eyes hard, the end of his rant trailing off weakly. Tai waited a moment and listened to Matt take a few deep breaths. If Matt became hysterical, Tai wouldn't really know what to do… Matt never really did hysterical.

"That's what you been out here thinking?" Tai asked cautiously.

Matt nodded, letting his hands drop to his lap

"That's way too much for this early in the morning, man." Tai watched Matt for a reaction, when he didn't get one he continued, trying to be helpful. "I don't know about what you're _supposed_ to be feeling… but, well, how do you feel right now?"

"I don't know…. Angry I guess."

"Why?"

"_I don't know_," Matt looked at Tai for the first time during their conversation and Tai thought he could see confusion mixed with frustration on his face.

"Well, who are you angry at?"

Matt blinked at Tai as if he had just said something surprising. "Myself… and her," he answered hesitantly.

"Why?" Tai asked again.

"Because I _should_ know how to feel. When your grandmother dies, you're supposed to be sad. I'm angry at her for not being that… that person that I can be sad for losing. But then what… kind of person am I? What kind of person doesn't know how to feel? Even though she wasn't always nice to TK, he felt sad when he found out, he cried and everything. And I just feel… guilty and my head hurts and my stomach hurts," Matt suddenly pulled his legs out of the water and scooted back away from the pool. Tai thought he was going to stand up for a moment, but Matt just wrapped his arms around his knees, curling in on himself and dampening his shirt sleeves.

"Well I don't know why you'd feel guilty. But the headache might be from staying up all night and the stomach pain might just be because you're hungry."

"I don't feel guilty," Matt mumbled.

"You just said you did."

"I didn't mean…"

_…to say that aloud?_ Tai guessed mentally. When Matt made no attempt to finish his sentence, Tai sighed. Obviously, Matt was exhausted and having difficulty focusing. _He probably won't even remember this later,_ Tai thought rolling his eyes. Tai took a moment to look around them. The sun was coming up and soon hotel personnel would probably be coming out and they would be discovered in the pool area after hours. Tai wasn't in the mood for getting in trouble so early in the morning.

"You know what, Matt? Sometimes people say they feel one way or they act one way, but they really don't mean what they say they feel or how they act."

"What?" Matt asked, obviously confused. Tai sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't explain it right and he wasn't even one hundred percent sure what he was trying to say in the first place.

"Sometimes people do things they don't mean or say things they don't mean … like with me and Kari. I was pretty mean to her before we left… but that's because I know she was feeling left out because she couldn't come with us on the road trip, so I acted that way so she wouldn't want to come with us. Do you understand?"

"That's really messed up Tai… and I'm not sure what that has to do with anything," Matt answered honestly and had he not been in such an awful mood he might've laughed at Tai's odd explanation.

"Look, people are people… and we don't always understand each other, sometimes we don't even understand ourselves, but… that's just the way life is and sometimes it's best to just keep going and I think we'll just figure it all out eventually." There was a moment of silence after Tai's floundering explanation. Matt blinked a few times and Tai wondered how much of what he said made sense. Tai wasn't just struggling because he was tired and it was early, but he had figured out something about Matt, somewhere along the way. Something that Matt hadn't even realized yet. Tai knew it wasn't the best time to reveal what he had found out. It would be best if Matt figured it out by himself. Matt eventually nodded, informing Tai that even if he hadn't understood everything his best friend had said, he had heard him.

"So I'm thinking we might get in trouble if we stay here much longer. Ready to go back?" Tai asked. Matt nodded, but didn't move from his spot. Tai stood up and brushed his pajama pants off. He then held out a hand to Matt who looked at it blankly for a second before accepting the offer. "Where are your shoes?" Tai asked, but then he quickly located them sitting under a pool chair. He picked them up and handed them to Matt, who seemed to be having a hard time walking in a straight line. He was wobbling on shaky legs, Tai suspected it was due to sitting for a very long time and just pure exhaustion. Matt refused Tai's help, however, when he began climbing over the fence. But when Matt reached the top, he paused and wavered unsteadily. Tai worried he was going to fall, but then Matt hauled himself the rest of the way over and gracelessly reached the bottom. Once Matt was over safely, Tai quickly climbed over the gate as well.

As they were climbing the stairs back to the room, Matt tripped and Tai caught his arm. Matt recovered swiftly and nodded his thanks to Tai.

"Maybe you should try to get some sleep," Tai suggested when they reached the door to their room. "We don't have to leave for about two hours."

Matt shrugged. "I'll try I guess."

* * *

They were checking out just in time, though they cut it pretty close. Tai was handing over the room key with TK, who was looking at pamphlets of nearby tourist attractions, and Izzy who was busying himself with looking at their map. Matt was already waiting in the car, passed out in the passenger seat. The remaining time they had spent in the hotel room was quiet. They had all tried to get a few more hours of needed sleep, but nobody rested very easily.

Tai was now filling in the other two boys on what had occurred at the pool. But he didn't have much to report. He informed them that Matt was just exhausted and not in a very good mood. He didn't go into the fact that Matt hadn't been eating, but he would have been surprised if TK hadn't already picked up on that on his own.

"Where exactly are we going?" Izzy asked his main concern was finding a good route for them to travel.

"Yamagata," Tai answered, craning his neck to look at the map as well.

"What?" TK suddenly looked up from his pamphlet browsing.

"Yamagata," Tai repeated a bit more slowly, "I think that's what Matt said anyway."

TK looked through the glass doors to the parked car outside. "Did he say why?" TK asked. Tai had finished handing in the room key and checking out and turned to make his way to the car.

"No, why?"

"That's… where our grandmother lived," TK cast his eyes down to the ground and shuffled his feet.

"Oh," Tai responded and traded a look with Izzy. TK continued walking to the car slowly.

"I don't know why he would want to go there," TK mumbled, "he never really liked it."

"Perhaps he is in need of closure?" Izzy suggested. TK just shrugged and as they had arrived at the car, the conversation was dropped. When they opened the doors Matt stirred and without opening his eyes began talking.

"TK, do you want to sit in the front?" He asked sleepily.

"No Matt. I'm fine," He said with a small smile. "It's easier for you to sleep if you're in the front."

Matt mumbled something in response, but nobody could make it out. Tai sighed and started up the car. He turned to look in the backseat at his new navigator.

"So, Izzy…. North?"

To be continued…..

A/N: I was so determined to have this part up before August. I have failed miserably. Well, I'm only a few hours late. I had some difficulty writing this part. You guys know it can't always be funny, right? I do have my serious moments. This was one of the shorter ones. I apologize for that. Oh and I can't take credit for the "Matt's been Kidnapped" line. That was from one of my lovely reviewers. Thatswhatshesaid07. Thank you. Anyway, please leave me a review! I love them.


	6. Futher Up, Further In

A/N: I was absolutely determined to have this part up before September. Mission accomplished. I tried to have a bit more of Izzy and TK as they are unfortunately nearly always left out. Anyway, thank you so much to those who continue to review and encourage me. You are all too wonderful.

**Further Up, Further In**

Matt was abruptly woken up by some sort of breakfast sandwich being shoved in his face. It didn't take him long to realize that it was Tai doing the shoving.

"Eat this," his best friend commanded with a tone that sounded much too serious. Matt batted the item away and shut his eyes to go back to sleep. But Tai was insistent. He began tapping Matt in the face again with the paper wrapped food. Matt eventually reached up and took the sandwich from Tai, but only so he would stop annoying him with it. He started at the offered food with disinterest.

Before leaving the city, the three boys had decided to grab breakfast at a fast food place. Tai had ordered something for Matt and was damned determined to get his friend to eat today. So once they were on the highway again and had finished their own meals Tai decided Matt should wake up for breakfast. The fact that his blonde-haired friend made absolutely no move to eat the food was irritating and also worrisome.

"Eat," Tai commanded again, just in case Matt had forgotten what he was supposed to be doing with his breakfast. Tai glanced in the review mirror to look at his backseat passengers. Izzy was still pouring over the map and some books he had brought, but TK was watching the back of Matt's seat with intense interest. Tai then was convinced that TK had noticed his brother's lack of eating and was worrying about it as well, though he had chosen not to say anything about it yet. Tai turned his attention back to the road, but would take quick glances at Matt when he could.

Matt very slowly tore off a piece of bread from his sandwich and popped it into his mouth. He then chewed _very_ slowly. When he was finished with that bite, he tore off another piece for himself. In this way, he began eating his first meal since he had heard the news of his grandmother's death.

Eventually, Matt ate a little over half of the sandwich and then he shook his head and sat it down on the floor by his feet. He then slouched down in his seat and closed his eyes, apparently too tired to finish breakfast. Tai let him fall back to sleep, happy that he had at least had a little food in his stomach.

* * *

There was something strange going on. At least that was the conclusion Matt had come to as he began to regain consciousness. He had started to wake up when he heard Tai's voice and then he could feel the car jerking as Tai maneuvered it somewhat recklessly. It felt like his friend kept speeding up and slowing down. Matt opened his eyes wondering if the highway had become difficult to drive on. Perhaps there were twists and turns that Tai was having a hard time with. But after Matt's eyes adjusted to the sunlight filling the car, all he saw in front of him was a decently straight coastal highway.

"What's going on?" Matt asked, his voice still a bit raspy from sleep.

"Tai is attempting to gain the attention of those girls in the vehicle next to us," Izzy answered matter-of-factly. Matt lazily looked out his window. There was indeed a car occupied by three girls next to them. It was a bright red convertible. A bright red convertible that contained three very _attractive_ girls. _Probably college aged_, Matt judged by the look of them. The convertible sped up and Tai did as well to match them.

"Tai, knock it off… and watch the road!" Matt scolded. Tai turned with a frown to face the steering wheel again.

"Wish I was driving them around," Tai grumbled.

"Yeah right…" Matt rolled his eyes. Tai's frown increased and he gave an insulted sounding huff.

"And what exactly does that mean?" He questioned his friend. Matt lazily lolled his head so that he could look at Tai directly.

"Something like that would never happen," Matt then lolled his head back to the window and watched the red car speed away.

"What? You don't think I can drive girls around in my car? Is that what you're saying?" Tai kept glancing at Matt, his attention wavering from the road again. Matt sighed and started to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He could feel his exhausted mind starting to wake up more and the urge to go back to sleep was fading. This conversation was headed in a direction that could easily turn into a fight and Matt was going to try not to injure his best friend's pride too much.

"No… I mean, honestly Tai. Girls like that wouldn't give us even a second look."

"They might, you don't know that." Tai said hopefully.

"We don't have anything to offer them," Matt tried. Tai furrowed his brow.

"Well, what do you mean by that?"

"What? You think you're going to impress them somehow?" Matt sat up further in his seat, preparing himself to argue further.

"Maybe I will," Tai said with a sly grin. Matt scoffed, but tried not to make it sound too condescending.

"What, are you going to tell them stories about how you used to wear your goggles to sleep at night?"

"Hey! I only did that… like… a couple times… and of course I wouldn't tell them something like that! They would be impressed by my romantic manliness." Matt couldn't help it, he actually laughed at that.

"What exactly is your romantic manliness?" Matt asked with a grin. Tai glanced at his rearview mirror.

"I can't go into details… there are children in the car."

Matt turned to look behind him and saw TK raise an eyebrow and Izzy looked slightly offended, but still decided not to comment on the matter as he tried to concentrate on the map he was holding. Matt turned around to look back at Tai.

"Yeah right, you don't even know what you're saying," he accused, rolling his eyes again.

"I do too!" Tai insisted, sounding like a five year-old arguing with a parent. Matt lowered his voice so that the other passengers, who were sitting only a few feet away, might not hear what he was about to say.

"Tai, you've never even kissed anyone. What are you going on about?" he questioned in a hushed voice.

Tai gasped in horror, completely defeating the purpose of speaking quietly. "I can't believe you just said that!"

"Stop overreacting." Matt slouched back down in his seat slightly.

"Ugh, how embarrassing…" Tai buried his face in hand, the road before him momentarily forgotten. Tai was going to get them killed if he kept doing stuff like that, Matt was sure of it.

"Hey, it's not like you're the only one," Matt tapped Tai on the shoulder so he would look up. "I mean look at Izzy. Izzy's never been kissed." Matt looked back at Izzy and nodded. "Tell him, Izzy."

There was a brief pause where all eyes landed on Izzy, who just shifted uncomfortably in his seat and turned a light shade of pink.

"Well, actually…" Izzy started slowly, clearing his throat in an effort to reduce the awkwardness he felt. A stunned silence filled the car and even TK's eyes had widened in surprise.

"Wait… what?" Matt asked, dumfounded. "Who kissed you?" Matt tried not to sound as if the idea was unbelievable, but it had caught him off guard. The pink in Izzy's face darkened to red.

"I'm not sure how this is significant too-"

"Izzy just answer the question. Who kissed you?" Tai blurted impatiently.

"Mimi did," Izzy mumbled.

"What?!" Matt and Tai chorused at once. Tai turned around so fast he jerked the wheel and for a moment they were driving in two lanes. "When was this?" Matt asked in shock. Izzy shrugged awkwardly.

"About a year ago… when she got back from her summer trip… she just came up to me and kissed me. It was pretty fast. She then exclaimed I was 'just too cute.' Then she laughed and walked away."

Again there was stunned silence in the car and Tai turned around to watch the road again.

"How was it?" Tai asked after a beat.

"Tai!" Matt scolded. Izzy looked embarrassed enough over the explanation of his first kiss, there wasn't any need to go into further detail. They all took a moment to mull over the new information and then Matt remembered he was trying to make Tai feel better about never being kissed.

"Well at least TK's never been kissed, right Teek?" Matt turned to his brother with a smile. TK blinked, startled at being suddenly addressed, and then the young boy turned a bright shade of red.

"Actually…." He muttered quietly.

"WHAT?!" Matt and Tai shouted in unison again. TK shrank down in his seat as far as he could.

"Who?" Matt asked, even though he had an idea of what the answer was.

"K-Kari." TK turned an even brighter shade of red and Tai almost swerved off the road completely.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY SISTER?!" Tai yelled and immediately started signaling to get off the highway.

"I didn't do anything! I-It just sort of happened," TK began waving his hands trying to defend himself.

"What do you mean it just sort of happened?!" Tai demanded as he took the very next off ramp. For a moment, Matt wondered if Tai was getting off the highway so he could beat the living snot out of TK.

"What are you doing?" Matt asked Tai in a very calm voice. But Tai ignored him. TK then took that opportunity to try to explain himself.

"W-we were studying in her room and then Kari suddenly just told me not to move. I thought there was a bug on me or something. Then she just… she just…" TK's turned a shade of red that Matt had never seen before. "Afterwards I asked her why she did that and she said she just wanted to know what it was like," TK finished in a rush.

"She just wanted to know what it was like." Matt echoed. Tai seemed to calm down quite a bit as he turned into a gas station with a small shopping mart.

"I can't believe it!" He exclaimed as he pulled into a parking space.

"Calm down, Tai," Matt warned.

"It was just one time…" TK added hopefully.

"You're not allowed in her room any more!" Tai said, turning to face the boy.

"O…K" TK agreed quietly.

"Man, I can't believe that," Tai mumbled as he turned to stare out the front window.

"It's not that big of a deal, Tai," Matt interjected.

"I can't believe I'm the only one….Even the twelve year-old has been kissed. That totally sucks." Tai threw his arms up in the air in frustration.

"If you just want to be kissed, you can ask Mimi. Apparently, she'll kiss anyone," Matt stated.

"I think I should be offended, but I doubt she would decline. It seems she isn't very particular about those sorts of things," Izzy answered thoughtfully. Tai shook his head vigorously.

"I don't want to be kissed by someone who has kissed Izzy or anyone else I know! It's like second-degree kissing. By kissing Mimi I would also be indirectly kissing Izzy."

"… And half the guys at school," Matt added.

"Gross." Tai responded as he unbuckled his seat belt to get out of the car.

"… And me," Matt added tilting his head to the side as he recalled a certain memory.

"And… You?" Tai asked blinking. Tai then gave Matt a glare. "What the hell, Matt? You're with Sora, what the hell are you doing kissing Mimi?"

"Calm down, it was a long time ago and it was an accident. Sora was even there, you can ask her about it," Matt waved his hand dismissively.

"How does that happen by accident?"

"She was saying goodbye and she went to kiss me on the cheek and I didn't realize it and I turned my head the wrong way so she caught me on the mouth. It was an _accident_. We laughed about it after." There was a pause in the car as the group thought over this new information as well.

"Do you know what that means?" Tai asked suddenly.

"No," Matt answered.

"It means you and Izzy have kissed… by the second-degree."

"OK, time to get out of the car." Matt quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door.

"Well it's true." Tai insisted as he got out of the car as well. Once outside, Tai looked at his surroundings.

"Where are we?" He asked Izzy who had just emerged from the backseat.

"Shouldn't you know? You're the one driving," Matt called from across the vehicle's roof.

"We are just outside of Sekikawo, the highway we are on goes right through the Echigo Range…" Izzy started explaining.

"So we're in the middle of nowhere," Tai interrupted.

"It's just south of a national park," Izzy added, slightly annoyed that Tai had butt into his explanation.

"I see trees, flowers and dirt; it's the middle of nowhere." Tai checked to make sure he had the keys and then shut his door and locked it.

* * *

The boys were taking their time at the rest stop, grateful for the opportunity to stretch their legs. They were browsing around the small mart when Matt noticed TK was looking intently through some of the shelves. He then noticed that the boy was rubbing at his eyes and sniffling slightly.

"Are you alright?" Matt asked as he stepped closer to him. He followed his younger brother's gaze to the boxes of medications on the shelf. "Do you need something?"

TK shook his head and rubbed at his eyes again. Now that Matt was closer, he could see that his little brother's eyes were red and irritated looking. This, coupled with the slightly runny nose, was not a good thing. But besides TK's obvious discomforts, Matt felt that there was something even more that was bothering him.

"Are you alright?" Matt asked again. TK shifted his weight from one foot to the other and looked down at the floor.

"Do you think Tai's mad at me, y'know because of what happened with Kari?" He mumbled. TK was speaking so quietly, Matt had almost missed it.

"No, not really." Matt answered quickly.

There was a pause where Matt watched TK begin to brush his finger along the allergy medications. "He's just being an overprotective older brother; I don't think he's mad at you really… But about that, TK…" Matt began. TK turned his reddened blue eyes to his older brother and Matt felt himself falter. He didn't really actually know what he wanted to say. To be honest he had been surprised to find out that his younger brother had received his first kiss and then hadn't even told him about it. The situation didn't sit well with him… His little brother was a gentle, kind person and Kari was, for the most part, a sweet girl, but TK _was_ only twelve, for crying out loud.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Matt asked, "I mean, about Kari…"

"I haven't spent a lot of time with her alone, since that happened," TK said suddenly, trying to guess at what his older brother was getting at.

"Really?" Matt raised an eyebrow. TK nodded and sniffled.

"I mean she didn't even say she did it because she wanted to, it was because she was just… curious… and then the next week, her and Davis had a project to do and I know he was over there… For all I know, she kissed him too," TK's was trying to sound neutral, but there was a quiet betrayal in his voice that Matt had never heard before. TK then bit his lip worriedly and Matt felt his heart go out to his little brother. TK sometimes seemed so strong that Matt forgot how young he really was.

"I don't think she did Teek." Matt whispered. TK shook his head to clear it.

"Yeah, but she could have. Just because she wanted to know what it was like." TK rubbed at his eyes hard. They were beginning to water terribly and Matt knew it was allergies, but he didn't think the present conversation was helping much either. Matt tried to think of the best thing to say. He knew that TK really liked Kari and Kari really liked TK. Tai knew it too. In fact, everyone seemed to know it. So how was it that TK didn't seem to know how Kari felt?

"TK, a girl like Kari doesn't kiss you just because, she does it because she likes you." Matt offered.

"But that's not what she said!" TK's argued, his voice hitting a higher pitch that reminded Matt of when he was a few years younger.

"I know that's not what she said… but if there's one thing I've learned, it's that girls don't say what they mean."

TK blinked. "Really?"

"Really," Matt assured him. TK turned his attention back to the medicine in front of him.

"My… throat itches." He said rubbing at his eyes again and looking quite miserable. Matt nodded and picked up a box of diphenhydramine from the shelf.

"Here, we'll buy this."

"I didn't bring enough money to pay for allergy medicine."

"Yeah, well we also didn't bring enough money to pay for a doctor if your allergies get really bad."

Matt had actually forgotten about his younger brother's allergies and he was kicking himself for not planning ahead for this trip. Every time they had visited their grandmother, his parents had kept TK on a steady dose of diphenhydramine. The kid always had some of the worse reactions to the pollen and other things in the air when they traveled in the country. If left unchecked he could start wheezing and might even have an asthma attack. An actual asthma attack had never happened before, but the possibility made Matt nervous. Matt held up the small box and smiled.

"Com on, I'm buying."

* * *

Izzy had busied himself with looking at different maps for the area and he was so engrossed in his research that he didn't notice Tai sidle up beside him.

"Hey, Izzy," Tai greeted loudly. Izzy jumped, but then continued looking over the unfamiliar maps.

"What is it Tai?" He asked distractedly.

"So I was wondering…" Tai paused and waited to be prompted to continue. Izzy obliged.

"What were you wondering, Tai?"

"What _was_ it like?"

"What was what like?"

"Kissing Mimi, of course."

Izzy put the map he was holding down and stood up straight. "She kissed _me_," Izzy clarified.

"OK, well what was that like?"

"Quick." Izzy answered simply. He then picked up another map hoping to end the conversation.

"But I mean… was it gross? Was it awesome? Wet? What?"

"Why are you so interested?" Izzy asked curiously.

"I just want to know. I mean… it could be years before it happens to me, I want to know if it's worth the wait."

"Well, why don't you ask Matt? He has far more experience than me."

"I don't want to ask Matt, I'm asking you."

Izzy studied Tai for a moment and came to the conclusion that he was very serious and not willing to let this issue go. "It surprised me more than anything… but… it was… not unpleasant… and afterwards everything smelled like strawberries."

"Strawberries?"

"Yes, it was the lip gloss she had on." Izzy turned away to put the map back in it's place.

"I see," Tai mumbled. "Thanks Izzy."

"You're welcome."

* * *

They had been driving for a little over thirty minutes and TK was completely passed out with his face pressed up against the car window.

"Geez, how much of that stuff did you give him?" Tai asked.

"I gave him the amount the box said. He's always been sort of a light-weight with these kinds of things though," Matt was studying the box in his hand. "Maybe the children's dose would have been enough?"

"Izzy, check to make sure he's breathing."

"He's breathing, he's just… drowsy," Matt insisted.

Izzy rearranged the map in his lap. "At this rate he will still be asleep by the time we arrive in Yamagata."

"Are we already that close?" Tai asked.

"Yes, we should reach the Yamagata prefecture in a little over an hour."

"We need to get to Okura," Matt stated.

"I thought we were going to Yamagata?" Tai asked.

"Okura is _in_ the Yamagata prefecture. In the Mogami district," Matt clarified.

Izzy readjusted the map. "Our course is going to be a bit different than I originally planned. We must take route 344."

"How big is this place? I mean, what do they have there?" Tai asked curiously.

Matt looked away out the window at the trees passing quickly by. "Nothing important really."

To be continued….

A/N: I just want you all to know that these places the boys mention and travel to do, actually, exist. However, my depiction of these places is largely my own, as I have never been to Japan. I'm so tired, I went to bed late trying to finish this chapter and I didn't do some of my homework because I was working on it. Please excuse any mistakes. Now then, I expect reviews! Lots of them! Please? I do love reviews so very much.


	7. Destination

A/N: I promised when I started writing this fic I wouldn't make you all wait this long. I'm so sorry. I really scheduled too much for myself these last few months and I got sick 5 times… Once with the Swine flu. Not fun. But, just so you all know, this fic was never far from my mind. I was always thinking about it and feeling guilty about not writing sooner. Here we go….

**Destination**

"Tai turn left here."

"Left?

"Right."

"Wait, left is right or turn right?"

"Left."

"Left?"

"Right."

"Right?"

"No, Left. Left is right."

"Dude, left is left."

"Are you two doing this intentionally?" Izzy asked abruptly. Tai and Matt glanced back at Izzy, the slightest smirk on Tai's face.

"Have a sense of humor Izzy," Tai said turning back to watch the road.

"It wasn't humorous the first time Matt told you where to turn, it's certainly not humorous the fifth time," Izzy grumbled as Tai began to turn right.

"Tai! Turn left!" Matt shouted and pointed frantically in the opposite direction Tai was turning.

"Oh, right." Tai said with a grin. He then dramatically turned the wheel the opposite direction and made a sharp turn to the left.

"A dangerous maneuver." Izzy commented.

"Don't do that, Tai." Matt warned.

"Why it's not like I'm going to hit anyone. There aren't any other cars out here."

Matt didn't have an argument for that one, they were surrounded on either side by fields and trees and it had been a while since they had seen another car on the road.

"We're in the middle of nowhere," Tai muttered. Nobody argued with him.

Though there had been no sign designating the area, Matt assured them that they were indeed in Okura in the Yamagata prefecture. Matt had been giving them directions one turn at a time, as it had been some time since he had been in the area and he couldn't remember all the turns at first.

They took a right and were soon surrounded by trees on each side. About ten minutes went by when Matt suddenly pointed to a gap in the trees.

"Turn right here."

"_Right_ here?"

"Tai, right _here_."

"OK, OK."

The boys turned onto a small lane surrounded completely by trees.

"Where are we exactly?" Tai asked as the car bumped along the uneven dirt road. Matt didn't answer and just as Tai was about to ask again, the lane opened up into a small clearing and a small blue house stood on the opposite side of it. Tai drove within a few feet of the house's front door and stopped the car. "Um, are we stopping here?" Tai asked.

"Yeah," Matt muttered and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Cheaper than a hotel," he added.

"So we're staying here," Tai guessed. Matt got out of the car without another word.

"Whose residence is this?" Izzy asked.

"It's our grandmother's house," a slightly congested sounding TK answered. Tai jumped a bit and turned to look at the younger boy. TK had been completely passed out since he had been given the allergy medicine and Tai had no idea how long he had been awake. The young boy had his forehead pressed against the window and was staring bleary-eyed at his deceased grandmother's home. Matt stood on the doorstep taking in his surroundings for a minute and then he casually opened the door. "Nobody locks their doors here," TK mumbled in explanation. He still looked pretty out of it and Tai watched as he blinked slowly, his eyes straining to follow his older brother's movements as he disappeared into the house. Suddenly, as if he had received some psychic signal from his older sibling, he unlocked his door and stumbled out of the car. He slowly took the two steps that led to the front door and soon disappeared into the house after his Matt. There was a moment of silence where Tai waited, hoping he would receive the same mental signal, when he didn't, he just shrugged his shoulders and turned to look at Izzy.

"I guess we should follow them?"

* * *

The house was small with two bedrooms. The entrance opened up to the kitchen and small dining area, Then came the living room and to the right of that was the hallway that lead to the two bedrooms. One was Matt and TK's Grandmother's room and the other was a guest room with two beds that the brothers had occupied when they came to visit when they were younger. Off of the living room were sliding doors that lead to a large wooden patio.

The boys opened up the windows of the house to let out the summer heat that had been trapped inside. They were just beginning to bring in their luggage when Matt opened the fridge and found its contents to be incredibly sparse. There was a small collection of condiments, something unidentifiable in a plastic container and five cans of beer.

"Guess my uncles have been here," Matt muttered.

"Why do you say that?" Tai's voice broke in suddenly and Matt turned to find the brunette looking over his shoulder curiously. Matt motioned to the cans.

"My Grandmother didn't drink and my uncles never go anywhere without a supply of beer." Tai nodded and then looked overly concerned.

"There's no food in there," He noted forlornly.

"We'll go to the store when we finish bringing in the stuff."

"The process would be accelerated with some assistance," Izzy stated as he entered the kitchen, his arms full of bags from the car.

"I thought TK was helping you," Tai countered.

"I believe TK is still not feeling well; he has been standing out on the patio for five minutes now."

Matt immediately closed the refrigerator and went to go check on his younger brother, Tai then decided to wander back to the car to pretend to help with the suitcases.

TK was indeed standing in the middle of the patio, staring vacantly at the tress that surrounded the house. He looked a little bit off, but Matt couldn't tell if it was from the allergy medicine or just the allergies in general.

"You alright, Teek?" Matt asked. The young boy blinked and nodded slowly.

"Are you sure? Maybe you should go inside and sit down."

"Do you remember sitting out here at night and looking at the stars?" TK asked, turning his head to look his brother in the eye. Matt was slightly taken aback by the sudden question, but he nodded quickly.

"Sure, I remember that. We did that every night. Why?"

"Do you remember how I was scared of the trees at night?"

"Yeah." Matt answered quietly, unsure of where this was going. TK turned his gaze back to the forest around them.

"They were huge. I always thought something was hiding out there." Matt nodded again; he well remembered his younger brother's fears. "They've gotten smaller," the younger boy said after a pause. Matt turned and followed TK's gaze to the trees.

"Yeah, they have."

* * *

Tai and Matt went to the store while Izzy and TK stayed behind. TK was resting in one of the guest beds with the largest fan pointed at him and Izzy was stationed at the kitchen table with his laptop. The trip to the local market was short and uneventful. Matt had to stop Tai from buying nothing but junk food, but besides that, the atmosphere around the two friends was very much subdued. Their bickering was limited and their conversations kept brief. Due to the lack of talking and general messing around, they made it back o the house in record time and Matt was able to get dinner started fairly early.

While they were all eating Tai took note at how Matt barely touched his noodles. TK didn't eat much either and after dinner he went to go lie down in the guest room again. It was around that time that Tai found Matt, standing in the hallway, peering into the master bedroom through the slightly ajar door. Tai, being nosey by nature, wandered over to his friend and began looking over his shoulder. Tai could just make out a bureau and the edge of a bed with a red quilt spread across it. Upon sensing his presence, however, Matt quickly shut the door the rest of the way.

"Izzy and TK are taking the guest room. We'll take the living room. You can have the couch. I'll sleep on the floor." Matt turned and walked back towards the living room. Tai shook his head slightly and then followed his friend, choosing not to argue over the matter.

* * *

It was early evening that found Izzy busying himself with his laptop and Tai zoning out on the few channels they received through the ancient television. He was watching something on baseball, he wasn't even sure what it was as the signal kept going out, when Izzy interrupted his stupor.

"Where is Matt?"

Tai blinked and looked up at Izzy as if just realizing he was in the same house as him.

"Thought he was in the kitchen," Tai responded.

"No, he left some time ago. I thought he was in here with you."

"Hmmm…. That's weird." Tai got up from the couch and stretched. In stretching, he happened to glance out the window behind him and saw a familiar blonde head out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, he's outside." Tai deduced. Izzy was about to make a comment about Tai not noticing Matt walking right by him and out the door, but figured it wasn't actually that surprising. Nobody could zone out on television like Tai could.

Upon stepping outside, Tai heard a familiar and yet unexpected sound. It took him a minute to place it. Even when he saw its source it took a moment for him to wrap his brain around what he was seeing. Matt. Sitting on the edge of the patio. One unopened beer can and three empty cans crushed beside him… and one freshly opened one in his hand. The sound of the can being opened is what Tai had heard, quickly followed by the beverage fizzing over the top. Matt had turned slowly (too slowly), to look at Tai. After a beat, the brown-haired boy quickly shut the sliding door behind him and stalked over to Matt. Once he was close enough to speak without being overheard by the house's inhabitants he started talking.

"So, what the hell are you doing exactly?"

Matt blinked stupidly at Tai and then at the can in his hand. He then turned his hand and began dumping the alcoholic beverage out on the dirt by his shoes. Tai quirked an eyebrow and sat down on the patio's edge. By his shoes, Tai could now see the dirt was damp, with about four cans worth of beer soaking the ground.

"I was dumping it out," Matt stated after a moment.

"I can see that."

"You think I'm lying," Matt muttered.

"No," Tai answered quickly. "I believe you." Tai's eyes trailed to the remaining unopened one and Matt followed his gaze. Tai reached for the can and opened it in one swift motion, automatically moving his leg to avoid the resulting fizz. Matt cocked his eyebrow watching his friend curiously. There was a long moment of silence. They could hear the cicadas making noise in the forest and the TV going in and out in the house. Tai took a deep breath through his nose. "When I was a kid…" Tai started, watching one drop of the amber liquid making its way down the can, "…my dad would come home late, smelling like this... My mom and him would fight…. She would make Kari and me stay in our room, but we could still hear them… I could still smell him." Tai tilted his hand and watched as the can was slowly emptied of its contents. Matt watched it as is splashed against the dirt and small stones, trailed down the sloping ground and disappeared under the brush and weeds that lined most of the patio. "At some point… I decided I wanted to be better than that. I decided I was never going to drink, because I never wanted to be like him." Tai crushed the now empty can in his fist and dropped it next to the others. Matt looked away from him and out towards the trees that surrounded them. This was the first time Matt had heard Tai say anything about this…

"I took one sip of the first one, that's it." Matt muttered and he crushed the last can he was holding against the patio's floor.

"I know," Tai muttered.

Matt turned to Tai in surprise. "You do?"

Tai turned to him with the slightest smile, "I could smell it on you."

* * *

The two friends sat like that for a while, comfortable in the silence of the evening. After it started getting dark, Izzy poked his head outside and upon seeing his two friends with empty beer cans crushed around them… well, he rightly jumped to some conclusions.

"What are you two doing out here?! What if TK came out here? You want him to see you like this?"

"We're not-"

"Matt was just dumping the cans out."

"We didn't drink anything."

Izzy was not very convinced, though Tai couldn't understand why. Izzy basically sent them to bed like a couple of misbehaving children. Matt and Tai would have been offended if they weren't so busy wondering where the younger boy had gotten the gumption to scold them so in the first place.

Soon, Izzy and TK were sleeping in the guest room and Tai and Matt were set up for the night in the living room. Right as Tai was beginning to drop off to sleep he heard an unintelligible mumble come from Matt's makeshift bed on the floor.

"Huh?" Tai asked groggily. Matt shifted and took a deep breath.

"I want to see the stars."

"Look out the window then," Tai mumbled into his pillow.

"Not what I mean. I want to see them," was Matt's quiet response.

"Are… are you drunk? If you are, I believe you are what the world would call a _lightweight_." Tai said, peering into the darkness where he knew his friend was.

Tai could sense Matt scowling in the dark at him. "TK and I used to look at the stars all the time when we would visit out here. I want to see them… and everything else up there too."

"Are… are you saying you want to be an astronaut? Are you serious?"

"What? You don't think I can?"

"Matt, I think you can do anything you want… Personally, I would never choose to do something like that, that's way too much work for me." Tai rolled over to face the back of the couch.

Matt was about to say something about Tai being lazy, but the comment died on his lips. _Anything I want_, he thought. It was then that all the days of not sleeping well caught up to him and with a sigh he shut his eyes and drifted off to the most peaceful sleep he'd had in a long time.

To be Continued….

A/N: I am so sorry this took so long guys. Truthfully, most of it was written about a month ago, but it was just the last few pages that were giving me problems. Sorry it's so short. I'm not entirely happy with it, but it's done now. Thank goodness. Please forgive me for the wait. Remember, reviews are awesome.

PLEASE READ Another NOTE: I was planning on updating a lot now... however, life has different plans. My house caught fire and most of my room is gone. The laptop is completely toast, as it is I am using my sister-in-law's to write this. I have no idea when I will update this again. Hopefully the insurance will be able to replace my laptop soon. Thank you gentle readers. Until we meet again.


	8. The Regret of Yamato Ishida

A/N: House fires suck. I don't suggest anyone setting their house on fire. Seriously, unplug your appliances… and little personal DVD players that set the floor on fire.

Sorry this took long. I was thinking a lot about 'Crosswalk' when I wrote this. Particularly, the first chapter: The Grounding of Yamato Ishida, hence the title of this chapter. I also refer back to 'Stop Light.' My sincere apologies to those who haven't read those stories. But those stories in a nutshell: Matt attempts to use hedge clippers to make a stop sign more visible at a crosswalk, which ends in Matt falling, injuring his hand and the back of his head and then getting in trouble. Enjoy!

The Regret of Yamato Ishida

It took fifteen minutes and thirty seconds for Tai to wake Matt up. Izzy timed it out of sheer boredom really. Tai had first just tried speaking loudly in his attempts to wake Matt, but TK pointed out that raised voices had never woken Matt before. Then the poking started. Tai poked his friend in the back of his blonde head for thirteen minutes and thirty-three seconds with no response.

"I find it surprising he can sleep facedown like that," Izzy observed. "Most people would have difficulty breathing."

"He must have been really tired," TK commented.

"And maybe slightly hung over," Tai muttered under his breath.

"What?" TK asked.

"Nothing." Tai then went back to prodding Matt's skull. "Matt you need to wake up, someone needs to make breakfast and I can't cook." The prodding continued for another minute or so when Tai stopped suddenly. "Dude, I can see your scar! That's from the crosswalk at school? Wow, it's like a thin little bald spot isn't it?"

Matt's hand suddenly flew out from underneath his blanket and clasped over the back of his head.

"You're awake!" Tai declared, jumping up from his crouched position on the floor. Izzy checked his watch to confirm the time and TK chirped out a cheerful morning greeting. Matt, however, drowsily crawled out of his bed on the floor, with one hand still on the back of his head and didn't even grumble one 'good morning' before heading to the bathroom.

Once the bathroom door was closed, TK flopped down on the couch. "You shouldn't have mentioned the scar, it bothers him."

"Well, I thought he was still asleep," Tai stated in his defense. Several minutes (six and a half, according to Izzy) went by and there was no evidence that Matt was coming out of the bathroom any time soon. During this time, Tai turned the TV on to drown out his stomach's growling. "Did he fall asleep in there?" Tai questioned in exasperation, but no sooner had he spoken when the bathroom door opened, revealing a still slightly disheveled Matt. His blonde hair was now smoothed down in the back to better hide the old wound. Tai wanted to point out that the scar on his head wasn't nearly as noticeable as the one that stretched across his palm, but chose not to at the last second. Matt looked irritated enough and the morning hadn't even really started yet.

After breakfast, and only one allergy pill for TK, things got better and Matt agreed to take them out in the woods along the little paths that he and TK used when they were younger.

"An adventure!" Tai had declared as he ran out the back door. The other three boys followed him a little less enthusiastically. They walked along paths that had been long since overgrown, but Matt still seemed to remember his way around the forest… more or less. It was hot and it was humid, but the trees sheltered them from becoming overwhelmed by the heat. It wasn't long before their travels brought them to a stream.

"You remember this?" TK asked with a huge grin spread across his face. Matt nodded and a careful smile appeared across his face. TK started taking off his shoes and Matt immediately followed suit. Tai, getting the idea, removed his own sneakers as well. Izzy observed them with a raised eyebrow. "Matt and I used to race our sandals down the stream. Mine usually won." TK then stepped into the brisk moving water, which went up well past his ankles.

"Yours only won because they were so small and never got stuck on anything," Matt stated with a grin as he hopped into the water besides his brother, making sure to splash the younger boy in the process. Tai jumped in exuberantly, splashing both blond boys. Matt kicked water in Tai's direction and TK quickly moved further downstream to avoid any wayward splashing.

"Come on, Izzy. There are some little waterfalls and stuff if you go down further." TK motioned forward with his shoes in his hand. It was true the stream did seem to get deeper and slightly more severe as it went on through the forest.

"I can just walk along the bank." Izzy commented as he turned to do just that.

"Don't!" Matt and TK cried out at the same time, both of them throwing out their arms in a frantic halting gesture. Izzy blinked at the twin display of warning.

"Why not?" Izzy asked. Matt took a step closer to Izzy and motioned to the foliage in front of him.

"That's stinging nettle and it runs along the whole stream. You can't brush against it." Matt didn't expound further. He knew Izzy and he could recognize when Izzy was accessing information in his head. He had no doubt that the boy knew exactly what the plant was. He probably even knew its Latin name and all that crap. Tai, however, didn't have a library of information in his head.

"What's stinging needle?" Tai asked curiously as he trudged forward to get a good look at the plant.

"It's _nettle_. Don't touch it, Tai." Matt warned.

"It doesn't look so bad," Tai remarked, reaching forward slightly.

"Tai! I said don't!" Matt smacked his friend's hand away.

"I wasn't going to!" Tai defended himself.

"Honestly, learn to leave stuff alone." Matt then turned to follow TK downstream.

"I hope you fall and your face lands in the stinging plant," Tai murmured, looking slightly irritated at being scolded.

"No, thank you. TK already did that when we were kids. It's not something that anyone should repeat."

The boys had set off down the stream with only the intention of getting their feet wet. But, of course, once they got to the deeper areas and the small waterfalls, Tai jumped in. Once he was completely soaked, he made it his goal to see that his friends wouldn't have a dry inch on them for the walk back. Izzy, to his dismay, was pulled under one of the little falls and Matt was pushed off of the rock he was trying to balance on. TK tripped all on his own and ended up nearly losing his hat down the stream. The mood was light and it was fun… until they had to trek back to the house. Their shoes, even though they had been carefully carrying them, were soaked and walking in them in the dirt proved to be quite uncomfortable.

"I'm going to end up with a bunch of blisters." Tai complained.

"You're the genius who jumped in with his shoes in his hand." Matt retorted.

"Why did you let me do that?" Tai whined. "You should have stopped me." Mat rolled his eyes and continued leading them in silence. Only a few minutes passed before Tai started up again. "Are we there yet? All these stupid trees look the same to me."

"No," Matt answered dully.

"Shouldn't we've been back by now? This is taking forever. Did it really take us this long to get down to that stupid stream… Wait, are you doing this on purpose? I bet you're doing it on purpose. You want to make me walk around and get blisters. You want me to suffer."

"Maybe," Matt muttered.

"A-hah! You are doing it on purpose! We've probably been walking in a circle. Honestly, just because I pushed you off that rock. Well, excuse me, Yamato Ishida, King of the Rock. Sorry about dethroning you, but it was a joke. You need to take a joke. Izzy got soaked too, but he's not mad ("Yes, I am," Izzy said, but was ignored). So did TK… though that was like… gravity, I didn't have anything to do with that one. Hey! And you attacked me at the beach, if anything it was payback! It was completely- wait, what's that word- justified! So, it's not fair. Making us walk in circles-"

"Tai, I was kidding. We're almost there. Now, please, shut up."

As soon as they arrived on the patio, Tai kicked his shoes off his feet and bolted inside. He was already pulling his wet shirt off over his head before he was two steps in the door.

"I hope he doesn't throw his wet clothes all over the place." Izzy mumbled.

"He will," Matt said as he began slipping off his own shoes before stepping inside. No sooner had he pulled his wet socks off that he heard a high pitch scream. Recognizing Tai's girlish cry of horror, Matt hurried inside with Izzy and TK right behind him.

What he found was Tai, with no shirt on, his arms wrapped around himself and a look of mortified surprise on his face. Across the room, in the entrance to the kitchen, there was standing a beautiful teenage girl with long dark hair. She was wearing short shorts, a black halter top, bright red lipstick and a look of amusement. When she saw Matt, her face lit up.

"Matt!" She cried, and in three steps she had crossed the room and thrown her arms around his neck. "It's been so long! Why didn't you say you were coming?" She then noticed TK standing beside Izzy. "TK!" She practically shrieked. Matt jerked his head away from her, but was sure he was now going to be deaf in that ear. She threw her arms around TK as well and squeezed all the air out of him. "Look how _tall_ you are! You're growing up to be so handsome! Just like your brother!" TK laughed nervously at the compliment. She then started laughing and decided to throw her arms around Matt again. "It's been too long." Then she kissed Matt's cheek, leaving a large red mark. Catching a very confused look from Tai, Matt decided to explain.

"This is Takako. She's my cousin."

"Who are your friends?" Takako asked, finally relinquishing her hold of Matt and casting her eyes from Tai to Izzy.

"That's Tai and that's Izzy," Matt said, motioning to each.

"Hi!" Takako squealed as she threw her arms around Izzy. Izzy went rigid and a sort of strangled noise escaped his throat. Then she kissed his cheek and immediately his face turned red. Takako then quickly turned and shot straight over to Tai, who didn't even have time to unfold his arms before he was being squeezed for all he was worth. By the time she planted a kiss on his cheek his face was already the same color as her lipstick.

"H-hi," Tai choked out. Takako giggled as if Tai had just said the funniest thing in the world and she did not unwrap her arms from Tai's shoulders.

"So what are you guys doing here?" She asked, turning her head to look at Matt. Matt shrugged.

"Just figured we'd take a road trip."

Takako slowly unwrapped her arms from Tai, but she remained standing close to him.

"A road trip? Sounds fun, but why on earth would you come here? Honestly, nobody leaves the city and comes out to this dump of a town by choice." Takako tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and gave Tai a smile when she noticed he was still staring. Tai blinked back at her blankly, unable to respond in anyway.

"What are you doing here, Takako?" Matt asked, ignoring her question.

"Oh, I have to pick up some boxes of junk from Grandma's room. Mom wants to start sorting stuff. Are you guys staying for long?"

"No." Matt answered flatly.

"Smart. I'm guessing the fighting over who gets what is going to be starting soon. You probably don't want to get involved in that."

"I would rather everyone not know we're staying here," Matt stated quietly.

"My lips are sealed," she said with a quick wink in Tai's direction. Tai's eyes widened slightly.

"You have some stuff to pick up?" Matt asked, catching her attention again.

"Yep, some _really_ heavy boxes. You guys want to help?"

"_I'll_ help you," Matt said before anyone could respond.

"OK, be right back," She said reaching up and giving Tai's bare chest a quick pat. She turned briskly and walked down the hall towards their grandmother's room. Matt followed her, but paused briefly as he passed Tai.

"Put on a shirt, Tai."

Tai nodded, seemingly in some sort of daze.

* * *

"Please stop hitting on my friend."

"Oh, I don't know what you're talking about."

Matt and Takako were speaking in hushed voices in their grandmother's old room. The closet door was open and Takako was pointing out the boxes she needed to take back with her.

"He's a nice guy," Matt said as he pulled one of the bigger boxes down from the shelf.

"I know and I'm a nice girl," Takako said, brushing some of her hair out of her face.

"I'm serious, Takako. Stop messing with him," Matt set the box down on the floor.

"I'm not messing with him. Besides, he's kind of cute."

"Did you run out of guys here to date?"

"Small town boys are _boring_," she exclaimed and sat down on the large box with a pout.

"You really did run out of them, didn't you?" Matt rolled his eyes and reached for the next box.

"City boys are way more fun," she said with a mischievous grin.

"Whore." Matt stated bluntly.

"Oh, you're going to hurt my feelings, Yamato." Takako pouted exaggeratedly and twirled her hair in her fingers.

"Oh, yeah whores get paid. I guess 'slut' is a more accurate term," Matt said with a glare.

"Oh, like you're one to talk." She put her hands on her hips dramatically.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Matt dropped the next box with a loud thud.

"Don't break anything. You know, Aki stills talks about you."

"Aki? What? I was thirteen! How does that compare to the fact that you've dated every boy in the Mogami district?"

"Next box, please." Takako waved her arm at a smaller box on the shelf. "What about Miya?"

"I _never_ even _kissed_ Miya!"

"That's not what she says," Takako said in a sing-song voice. Matt scowled his worst scowl at his cousin. They had grown up together and while they could get along, Takako had the tendency to get under Matt's skin.

"Bitch."

"Man-whore." Then she laughed and rose from her seat on the box.

"Stop it and don't you dare say anything to the others about Aki or Miya."

"Now, why would I do that?"

"I have a girlfriend now."

"You do? Wow, lucky girl." Matt pulled the smaller box from the top shelf of the closet. "I have such handsome cousins. It's such a curse that we're related."

Matt scrunched up his nose at that comment which made Takako burst into laughter.

"You're so serious, Matt. Lighten up."

"Just leave my friend alone."

"Fine, I will. Nice to see you still have that insane protective streak in you. I always did admire that." Takako took the box from Matt and sat it on top of one of the bigger ones. "That one too," She said pointing to one last small box on the shelf. Matt sighed and reached up for it. However, this last box was heavier than the others and it was open. When he began to slide it off the shelf, he dislodged some of the contents that were overflowing from it and a small batch of papers fell to the floor.

"Uh-oh," Takako said smiling. She reached down and picked up the small bundle. She glanced at it and smiled. "This one has your name on it." She handed him the envelope on top of the stack and took the small box out of his grasp. Matt stared at the envelope. It did indeed have his name on it.

"What is this?" He asked. Takako shrugged.

"Probably a birthday card or something. Grandma always picked those things out way ahead of time. She always wrote I was a dishonor to the family in mine."

"Really?"

"Well, something like that." Takako took the two smaller boxes. "You can grab the bigger ones, right?" Then she turned and left the room. Matt flipped the card over in his hand and then very slowly pulled the card out.

-page break-

They were all outside, Tai stumbling over himself to help Takako put the boxes in her car. Now that he was clothed, he found it much easier to converse with her. Of course it helped that Takako wasn't winking at him or holding herself against him anymore. They talked about soccer, of all things. She had played when she was younger and Tai found that incredibly interesting. When all the boxes were in securely, they spoke for a while, but then it was time for her to go. She hugged Matt first and kissed his cheek.

"Take care of yourself, Yamato," She whispered. Then she hugged TK.

"In a few years, you're going to be totally hot."

"Uh, thank you. I guess," TK mumbled with a blush. Then she hugged Izzy, who tried not to look like a deer stuck in headlights when she embraced him. Then she turned to Tai and when she hugged him, he was able to reciprocate it.

"I-it was nice to meet you," Tai stammered. She pulled away from him and looked him directly in the eyes. Then she very quickly leaned in and kissed him on the lips. It was brief and when she pulled away, she had a huge smile on her face. Tai looked completely dumbstruck.

"Matt's right, you are a nice guy." Then she turned and saw Matt looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry, I couldn't help it. He looked like he needed it." Then with a grin she got into her car and drove away. She didn't look back.

After her car disappeared down the lane, it was silent for a few more minutes. Finally, Tai remembered to breathe and he gasped for air.

"Did that just happen? Cause I'm not sure. Maybe I just imagined the whole thing," Tai said frantically.

"No, it happened. You have lipstick on your mouth, Tai." Matt then turned and walked back into the house.

"She was… interesting," Izzy stated.

"She's the most amazing person I've ever met," Tai mumbled. "Our children will be both beautiful and awesome soccer players."

"Uh, I don't think you're going to see her again, Tai," TK cocked his head to the side seriously wondering if Tai was losing it.

"Hush, TK. Nothing will stop our love."

"OK, I'm going inside now."

"Me too," Izzy agreed.

* * *

It was later in the afternoon when the sun was just starting to set that Tai found Matt sitting out on the edge of the porch again. He sat down happily next to his friend to see that Matt was just staring into space.

"So how are you on the best day of my life?" Tai asked cheerfully. Matt smirked halfheartedly, but his attention seemed elsewhere. "Why did you never tell me that you had an incredibly hot cousin?" Tai had said it as a joke, but Matt responded in all seriousness.

"She's a year older than me and... we would argue a lot. We argued about stupid things. Once I told her that her earrings were stupid looking. We fought about that for days…"

"So you guys don't like each other at all?" Tai asked feeling awkward for possibly kissing a relative that Matt hated.

"No, that's not it. We're family, we love each other, we just don't get along most of the time. She's a decent person. She just doesn't always act like she is and that's what bugs me."

"Are you alright?" Tai asked. Something about his best friend's posture seemed off, as if the a larger weight than usual was resting there on his shoulders. Plus, he was talking a lot. Matt rarely talked so much, unless he was over tired or pressured into it. Matt shrugged and then he sighed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slightly rumpled envelope.

"I found this in my grandmother's closet."

"What is it?"

Matt sighed again. "She used to pick out cards for all of us ahead of time. Like, _way_ ahead of time. This one's for me."

"What for?" Tai asked quietly.

"It's for my high school graduation."

"Whoa, that is ahead of time."

"She wrote in it." Matt's tone had changed quickly. His words were quiet and it sounded like something was getting stuck in his throat.

"What did she say?" Tai asked, because he felt Matt needed someone to ask him.

"She said she was more proud of me than any of the other grandchildren. That I'm special and good and that she knows I'm going to become something great." Matt turned to Tai and it was like watching something break. All the inner turmoil and confusion bubbled up to the surface and as tears appeared in Matt's eyes he became someone he had been refusing to be. He became a boy who missed his grandmother. "She never told me anything like this. I thought it was because she was just mean, but now I think that maybe I never gave her the chance to." Tears were now starting to make their way down Matt's face and Tai was wondering if Matt was breaking down completely.

"And she's wrong. I'm not special or good. I didn't feel anything when I found out she died and the only thing I kept thinking about, was how she called my apartment a few months ago and I just wanted to get off the phone with her as quickly as possible. Then when I hung up I thought that if she died, I wouldn't care. I actually thought that. Then I really didn't feel anything. I just felt guilty, but that was it. I'm a horrible person and now I really don't know what I'm feeling." Matt dropped the envelope to the ground and put his face in his hands.

"Matt," Tai said quietly. He touched his friend's shoulder, but Matt remained with his face hidden. "Matt, listen. You're not horrible. You are good, really you are. You say you didn't care when you found out she died. But I don't think that's true. You two weren't close, but every kid misses their grandparents when they're gone. I think you did care, but for some reason you wouldn't let yourself feel it. Like you needed some reason to be sad for losing her. You don't need a reason to feel sad. You can just be sad that she's gone and you weren't ready for that to happen yet. It's OK. You're not horrible, you're not." Tai could feel Matt's shoulders shake under his touch. Tai started rubbing circles on Matt's back, trying to be as comforting as possible. But Matt's tears wouldn't stop, it had been bound to happen sooner or later. Tai had thought Matt needed to cry for a long time he wasn't going to stop him now. If he had just cried at the beginning of all this… Matt probably wouldn't have lost so much sleep and stopped eating like he did. The tendency Matt had to hold everything in, truly worried Tai, but he knew that he would let it all go eventually. And when he did, Tai would try his damndest to be there with him. As the tears started to slow and Matt wiped at his eyes desperately, Tai thought he could see a very small weight lift from his shoulders.

To be continued…

a/n: This chapter is greatly personal to me. Matt's confession of wanting to get off the phone with his grandmother and then thinking he wouldn't care if she died is in truth, my confession. Shortly after that incident my grandmother was diagnosed with brain tumors and she died. And I have never told anyone that.

I was very tired when I wrote this. I'm sorry if it seemed rushed and the grammar sucks (I hate commas), but I've been writing for a long time and I wanted to post this before I went to sleep.


	9. A Last Ditch Effort

A/N: I'm so, so busy. Moving back into our house after the fire has been so stressful! But Somehow I managed to get this out. Please Review. Please.

Warnings: I can't seem to write anything more than 3,000 words without making someone throw up. All my long stories have somebody puking in them. You have been warned, tummy troubled readers.

A Last Ditch Effort

After dinner, Matt had gone outside with his guitar and, after a few minutes of looking up at the darkening sky, he began to play. The music filtered into the house, adding a quiet soundtrack to their nightly activities. Tai smiled to himself, relieved to hear Matt playing. While Matt had taken care to pack the guitar and bring it along with them, he had not yet made a move to play it on the trip. It was a good sign. More than once that evening, Tai saw TK had a similar smile as he glanced towards the back patio. _Everything is really going to be OK_, Tai thought with a widening grin.

* * *

They were supposed to be leaving early in the morning. They were supposed to be. But Izzy's alarm, for some reason, didn't go off, Matt had turned his off and then accidentally fallen back to sleep, TK slept through all noises and Tai didn't think to set any kind of alarm at all. When Izzy finally did wake up, he realized the sun was shining through the window at the completely wrong angle for it to still be early morning. Soon there were four boys franticly running around, sleepily accusing each other for the predicament, and hastily packing the car. There were arguments over showers, hair brushes and the location of shoes. All the rushing around, coupled with the fact that none of them were really morning people, put all of them in a less than pleasant mood.

"I'm hungry," Tai complained as he started the car.

"We're getting a late start. We'll eat on the way," Matt replied, closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against the passenger window.

"Which way am I going? Left?" Tai asked as he approached the main road.

"Right," Matt said with a sigh.

"Wait, left is right or turn right?"

"Turn right."

"Are you sure? It feels more like left is right and right is wrong."

"Oh, damn it, Tai. Turn right. That way!" Matt motioned to his right with irritation.

"Right, got it." Tai allowed a smirk to creep over his face. Annoying people always did put him in a better mood.

* * *

After picking up breakfast, they had continued driving in a southern direction. They drove for a few hours, when suddenly Izzy jerked his head up from looking at the map.

"This isn't right. We are supposed to be in the Fukushima prefecture…"

"We are in the Fukushima prefecture." Tai stated, glancing in his rearview mirror to study Izzy.

"Yes, but we are supposed to be hitting Iwaki and the coast. That last sign said we were approaching Shirakawa. We're supposed to be taking the route by the coast. This isn't right at all."

"But Shirakawa is in the Fukushima prefecture, right?" Matt asked.

"Yes, but if we go past it, we'll be in the Tochigi prefecture. We're not going towards the coast we're going right down the middle of the country. We must be on route 294. We were supposed to be on route 288."

"I was wondering why there were mountains." Tai said, "Why didn't you say something before, Izzy? You've had the map for nearly thirty minutes."

"I had not yet realized we had taken the wrong route. Matt told you to take 288, Tai."

Tai whipped his head around, which made Matt make a grab at the wheel to keep the car from swerving. "I thought we _were_ on 288!" Tai whined. "Why didn't you notice?" Tai asked turning to Matt.

"I thought Izzy would be able to tell if we were really far off. That's why I gave him the map to look at," Matt said with a shrug removing his own hands from the wheel once Tai was looking at the road again.

"So you _knew_ we were lost and you didn't say anything?" Tai sounded scandalized.

"I had a feeling we were going the wrong way when we failed to find the ocean, yeah," Matt quipped. TK had suddenly started tapping the back of Matt's seat with one hand. Nobody noticed. Tai groaned and rubbed at his face with one hand.

"You should have told me you thought we were lost…" Tai whined.

"We're not lost. We can still get home just fine. We're just not going to the beach."

"I wanted to go to the beach again!" Tai complained loudly. Matt was about to answer when he felt TK's hand shaking his shoulder. Matt turned around to see his brother looking at him in desperation. TK looked so pale suddenly like he was about to… Matt then realized he was being an idiot. Mountains, winding roads, TK in the backseat… not saying a word for the past twenty five minutes.

"Pull over, Tai." Matt ordered. TK gave a very slight nod and then clamped a hand over his mouth. Tai had opened his mouth to protest, but Matt cut him off. "Tai! Pull over! Pull over!" Matt was unbuckling his own seatbelt and Tai, confused and a little afraid, thought for a second that his friend was going to jump from the vehicle. Matt was reaching into the back seat to undo TK's seatbelt for him, while Tai did as he was told and brought the car to a stop on the side of the road. The car was only just barely stopped when TK launched himself from his seat and out the door. He took about four quick steps, doubled over and then vomited onto the dirt. Matt had matched his speed and actions and was at his younger brother's side the entire time.

Tai briefly recalled Matt saying that TK sometimes got car sick. He realized that this was information he probably shouldn't have discarded so quickly. After all, TK had almost just _puked_ in the car. That would have been awful.

TK continued heaving while Matt rubbed his back and occasionally brushed the younger boy's hair off of his sweating forehead. "You're alright, you're alright." Matt whispered. It wasn't clear if that was meant to be comfort or a quiet plead. Izzy and Tai sat in the car very still, unsure of what to do. Suddenly Izzy spoke in a slightly choked sounding voice.

"Tai, sometimes when I see people get sick… I feel as though I might…"

"Get out of the car, Izzy." Tai opened his door and stepped out, then he turned and opened Izzy's door as well. Izzy climbed out with a nod of thanks. He faced the road, away from the sight of TK choking and retching. Izzy took a couple of deep breaths with his eyes closed. Tai stood quietly beside him, trying to keep an eye on everyone at once.

Soon, TK was taking uneven breaths and spitting, trying to rid his mouth of the awful taste.

"I got your shoe," TK said shakily. Matt shuffled his feet in the dirt.

"Don't worry. They're Tai's."

Tai whipped his head around to glare at Matt.

"What?" He exclaimed, trying to peer over the top of the car to see Matt's feet.

"Just a joke, Tai." Matt flashed him a small smile and then his face went back to being completely serious as he turned back to TK. "You'll feel better if you ride in the front seat from now on, I think." Matt said quietly. TK nodded, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Are you going to be sick or what?" Tai asked Izzy bluntly. Izzy slowly shook his head.

"Nausea is subsiding," Izzy took another deep breath and opened his eyes. Tai nodded and then began to rummage under his car seat. He had some unopened bottles of water in there somewhere. They would be warm, but they might help a bit. He handed a bottle to Izzy and Izzy thanked him. He tossed the second bottle to Matt. Had Matt not lunged to catch it, the bottle would have landed in a bush by the road.

"You throw like a girl, Tai."

"Oh sorry, did I make you break a nail, Matt?" Tai grinned. Matt returned the smile and handed the now open bottle to TK to drink. "Little sips, Teek." TK nodded his thanks.

* * *

They stopped briefly in Shirakawa to pick up more water and some food. TK was only eating crackers at that point, but Tai was sure to buy enough snacks for him if he felt hungry later.

Thirty-five minutes later, TK had fallen asleep in the front seat while the other three boys watched the scenery change slightly. The mountains that surrounded their route before now opened up and they found themselves descending into a valley. The road was far from flat, however. They found themselves climbing and descending small hills. The ride was actually very peaceful… until it wasn't. Upon the ascent of one particular hill, the car made the oddest clunk-tok sort of noise. Tai was jerked from his daydreaming and Matt sat up straighter in the backseat as Izzy stretched to get a better view of the front of the vehicle. What happened next was not expected. White smoke began billowing out from under the hood of the vehicle and Tai might have let out a girly shriek, followed by a variety of swear words. Before anyone could even say the words, _Don't panic,_ Tai turned the wheel sharply to the side of the road. They had begun to descend from this particular hill. Maybe that was the reason for the extra speed. Matt would later say it was Tai being an idiot and nothing else. The facts were, however, they were going faster than necessary, the smoke hindered visibility, Tai panicked and there was a shallow ditch that ran alongside route 294.

Izzy, for all his cleverness, couldn't grasp what was happening until after it was over. The car gave an awful lurch and he was thrown forward in his seat as the car came to a very abrupt stop. The angle he found himself in a moment later seemed to suggest the front of the car was lower than the back and the pain in his shoulder from the seatbelt suggested they had been going too fast and he was going to have a large bruise. The windshield wasn't completely broken, but it had been cracked badly. Tai's father's car was an older model. Which meant no air bags. He was trying to decide if that was good or bad. Frontal airbags deployed with too much force could cause injury, but they were also accredited for saving many, many lives. Newer cars now deploy with less force than older models, which reduces the risk of injury in low-speed crashes. But the car was old and they hadn't been going too fast… but through the haze TK seemed to be sitting so still with his safety restraint digging into his shoulder like that. Izzy's thoughts whirled on and if his mind hadn't been racing around he would have noticed Matt struggling with his seatbelt sooner.

Matt couldn't seem to take in a breath properly. Perhaps the seatbelt had forced the wind out of him or, perhaps, he was having a panic attack. Maybe a little of both. Izzy didn't think he had ever seen him so frantic. Without thinking about it, Izzy reached over and released Matt's seatbelt himself. Matt fell forward and immediately grabbed TK's shoulders.

"I'm alright, Matt." TK whispered. "I'm not hurt." _Not hurt, just in a state of shock then_, Izzy thought.

The briefest relief flashed across Matt's face before he reached over and shook Tai's shoulder as well. Tai, Izzy was just noticing, was being much too quiet. He also still had one hand gripping the wheel while the other was holding the left side of his head. Matt managed to wedge his upper body between the two front seats and he had his full attention on Tai.

"Tai," was all Matt said at first. Tai shook his head in response. "Let me see." Matt grabbed his friend's face and turned it towards him.

"It's fine, I just hit my head against the damn window," Tai murmured. "Shit, my dad's car," Tai added with a groan. Matt ignored him and inspected the bump that was forming near Tai's hairline. He wasn't bleeding, probably wasn't anything to worry about. It could probably use some ice though. Matt nodded and then turned back to TK who was beginning to struggle with his own seatbelt.

"Hang on, I'll get out and help you with that." Matt then turned and glanced at Izzy. Normally, Matt would have kept moving, but something in Izzy's face made him stop. Izzy had been cataloging in his head and deciding what the next best course of action was. "Are you alright? Are you still with us, Izzy?" Matt asked. Izzy nodded, realizing he must have looked odd; sitting completely still, leaning forward due to the angle of the car and staring at the back of Tai's headrest. He nodded again and moved to release his own safety restraint. He was alright. No matter what thoughts ran through his mind, the possibilities, calculations, observations and the fact that he had no clue what to do next, he kept coming back to the fact that he really was alright. They were really alright.

* * *

"No signal," Matt reported as he stood in the middle of the road with his cell held aloft, hoping the heavens would open and bless his efforts with a couple of blue signal bars.

"We are screwed," Tai sighed as he stared at the mess that was his father's car.

"How far is it to Nasushiobara, Izzy?" Matt asked as he stared down the road at nothing.

"Approximately 10 miles," Izzy stated patiently. They had already been through this.

"How long would it take us to walk there?"

"On average it would take us an hour to walk 3.5 miles. At that speed, it would take 2 hours and 51 and a half minutes to walk 10 miles. However, with the walk being up and down hills, plus with Tai complaining and everyone suffering from fatigue and shock it would take longer. It could be nearly one hour longer."

"And at what point is it going to be too dark to really see?"

"There are no lights from the city out here…. So approximately 3 hours."

"Maybe that's what we should do then. Just walk until a car comes along or we reach the city or at least until I can get a signal to call someone," Matt muttered, fidgeting with his phone. Tai turned away from the car at that statement.

"Excuse me? You want to do what?" Tai started towards Matt in the middle of the road. "It's getting dark and you want to walk along a deserted highway in search of help? I've seen this movie. We all get killed by psychotic mutants."

"Well, what's _your_ great plan, then?" Matt demanded.

"We can stay with the car until someone drives by! No walking around in the dark." Tai waved his arms around in the air frantically. Matt shook his head.

"No cars are coming by. Our best bet would be to move and hope to get a signal."

"Well, then I guess I could just stay with the car," Tai crossed his arms.

"I don't want us to split up," TK piped up suddenly. Tai took one glance at TK, saw the slight insecurity in his eyes and changed his mind immediately.

"Fine, we walk until we get a signal."

They quickly gathered a few items from the destroyed vehicle (Matt insisted on bringing his guitar, he would not leave it behind. Similarly, Izzy would not leave his laptop behind) and then all four of them set off down the road with their phones out, hoping they could get a signal before the mutants came to claim them.

* * *

Despite the onset of evening quickly approaching, it was summer and it was still uncomfortably warm out. The water they brought with them was half gone within the first hour. They didn't really talk as they walked. Once in a while Tai would complain about the heat or a rock in his shoe, but they didn't say much else. The frightening thing, something Matt hadn't really thought about, was that there wasn't any turning back. They had to keep going and find help. Going back just meant possibly having to sleep in a ruined car at an uncomfortable angle all night. Matt was just beginning to think that they were really, very incredibly screwed, when Izzy suddenly held up his phone.

"I have a bar."

Matt sighed in relief. "Great, call your parents, Izzy."

Izzy suddenly got an uncomfortable look on his face. "You want me to call _my_ parents? Shouldn't you call _your_ dad? Or Tai should call _his_ dad and tell him about the car?" Tai had walked up from behind them and snorted with a laugh.

"I am _not_ calling my dad to tell him about the car. He's liable to just leave us out here to die."

"Why don't you want to call your parents, Izzy?" Matt asked in frustration.

"I… I just don't want to tell them about this," Izzy looked at the ground nervously. "They're going to be upset."

Matt bit his bottom lip in irritation. He glanced at Tai and saw that Tai was looking at Izzy with understanding. Then it occurred to Matt; Izzy didn't get in trouble very often, of course he would want to avoid it now. Even with the sky beginning to darken and them being stranded in the middle of nowhere, Izzy only ever wanted his parent's approval and he couldn't stand disappointing them.

Matt could be a disappointment, he had been before. He took the phone carefully from Izzy and began dialing the number. _Work number, he would be at work_, Matt thought as he hit the appropriate digits. The phone rang. Once. Twice. On the third ring Matt considered hanging up, but he didn't. Fourth ring. Fifth and then there was a click and a familiar voice. Matt cleared his throat and tried to speak, but found for a moment he didn't know what to say. _We've had an accident? We're stranded? We need help? Stupid, stupid, stupid. _Matt's mouth twitched as the voice on the line spoke again. Matt made a sort of choking sound in his throat. Then…

"Matt? Is that you?" He _knew._ And Matt felt small and too young for the first time in a very long time. He couldn't remember a time when he wanted his father with him more than he did right at that moment.

"Dad," Matt finally spoke.

"Matt, what is it? Has something happened? Are you hurt? Is your brother alright?" His father was talking too fast. Matt was scaring him. He didn't want to scare him.

"We're not hurt. But… Dad, can you come get us?"

TBC…

A/N: This was not supposed to be as serious as it was. It just got completely away from me. Wow, I really torture these poor boys. Also, I do research Japan highways and cities, but the exact location of things is probably a bit off. I don't live there and I've never visited, so bear with me. Thanks for reading everyone! More soon. Hopefully.


End file.
